Welp, since arriving in Seoul, I have been busy. Teaching Spanish here is a fabulous experience... my kids are fantastic, the school is supportive, I've turned a new leaf in my life AND the pay isn't bad either. :) So, onto the fun stuff: what I've been up to since I got here... 1- work- as mentioned before- its great... but a lot of work and since i'm a classic overworker- well, I just work too much.... 2- sites: with my trusty friends (Aimee- the tall, blonde Floridian of the group and the only mono-lingual, Berengere and Alexia- the Frenchies of the group, Liz- the pint sized English rugby player and Mary- the American-Irish ESL teacher) we have seen a few things: a- Kyobo bookstore- wooop woop for getting lost among the many wonders of the world- BOOKS. Kyobo is a japanese bookstore with a large international section b- Palaces... there are many amazing Korean palaces and i have seen the inside of two. Deoksugung and one on the east side of the Korean peninsula. c- the bars... of course it;s great fun. A few dives, a very posh Noreabong (kareoke place), and well.... I don;t actually go out that much.... I guess my Spanish drinking habits will remain in the western hemisphere. d. A Buddhist temple stay- wierd but neat experience. Got to spend two whole days living just like the monks do- slow silence. This was VERY DIFFICULT for me. We wore monk garb (very comfy pajama like clothes and luppers (rubber shoes). We chanted, bowed (at least 500 times), ate vegetarian, super healthy food, rang a big buddhist gong, and met Eric-teacher... a new friend. :) e. Food- korean bbq is a cultural experience. as many as 4 people sti around a silver, metal table with a gas stove-like burner in the middle. you can get different meats- most common 3 layer or 5 ayer fat pork. then you eat it without dishes but wrapped in two lettuce leaves with kimchi, sauces, rice, garlic, and hot peppers. its pretty good. they serve soup with it as well. the menus are just on the wall- painted or printed really big. we always get Cass (korean beer). I don tknow why i bother any more... the stuff has no potency. f. Namdaemun midnight wholesale market. fun stuff- opens at 12 am until 6 am. for wholesalers obviously so it's not as good of a deal as shopping during regular hours unless you buy a ton but it;s still fun to shop in the middle of the night...

g. The bugs: Korean mosquitos are killer and they are eating me whenever I let them sneak in. I can't wait until they are gone.

A view around my neighborhood during Chuseok (national Thanksgiving):