Day #2

As Quinn and I sit here jet-lagged and unable to stay awake or sleep at normal hours, we have discovered different ways to entertain ourselves such as the 24 hour supermarkets and restaurants.  Today started off by heading to the local hospital to receive a mandatory physical to teach including drawing blood, an eye exam, x-rays, and a urine test.  It was all a very interesting experience with the doctors speaking various levels of English.  My co-teacher than took Quinn and I to meet her friend from high school that just graduated with her doctorate in special ed from no other than the UW-Madison!  She was very nice and took us into Seoul to eat and sightsee.  We had lunch had a traditional chicken bulgogi place where the food is cooked in frying pans at the table and everybody shares.  The meal also comes with a cold seaweed soup and different types of ginger on the side, very delicious.  I then took my first ride on the subway system here, which is very nice and well run.  I bought a T-card, which is similar to a SmartPass in DC that works with the buses and subway.  There was a group of us including our new friend Chip, who is teaching at Kunkuk University, but also taught at UW-Madison.  We all headed to the Gyeongbokung Palace, a series of buildings and temples that were used by the king.  We also could see the "Blue House" where the President lives.  Afterwards, we headed to an area which seems to be the touristy street in Seoul to buy all of the "traditional" Korean crafts and foods.  We sat at a tea house and shared various drinks and rice cake deserts.  Then as I began to fall asleep while walking, we headed back to the subway and then home.  So here I am after my 6 hour "nap" and unable to fall back asleep.  Quinn and I ventured out to have dinner and realized it is a lot harder than we imagined to order food in Korea.  There is very minimal English and we ended up having Korea's version of American fast food and a couple of beers.  But, all and all, I am happy, full, and ready for tomorrow's adventures.

Korean word of the day- "ge-suhn-sah jo-se-yo" (or that is how you pronounce it) = "The bill, please"