"Ask, and it shall be given to you..." Matthew 7:7

"Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" Matthew 7:7

Maybe this is the biggest thing I will learn from this trip. "Ask, and it shall be given you"...today when I went to class, I was met in the hall by my teacher and another women (I was guessing also teacher). They talked with me and said there was room for me in level 2! Upon closer look, I recognized the new teacher as the woman who interviewed me on Monday. Anyway, it was very exciting but also intimidating to enter a new classroom and level. However, I asked and must have done it in the right way that they were willing to move me up. If I had just thought, "well, I will just make do with this level and not even try asking to be moved up" then I would not have had this opportunity. I was also able to ask about getting a different room and that has also opened up as a new opportunity for me as well. I am hopeful that both the new class and roommate will have a positive outcome.

Like I mentioned before, it was a bit intimidating to start in the new class. We've already had class for 3 days and it was a little scary to jump into what they've already been discussing and a group that has already been formed a bit. There are 14 students in this class and most are Japanese. The young woman sitting next to me is very kind even though we cannot really communicate. She let me share her book because I didn't take my level 2 book with me, not knowing I would be in that class today! There is a lot more speaking in this class and there are several students that seem very comfortable speaking and very knowledgeable in the Korean language (which is extra intimidating). However, I am so grateful and happy to be given the chance to move to level 2. Now I will really have to buckle down and work hard.

After class, I went in search of the Isaac Toast I had seen while wandering around on Sunday. I found it and brought it back to my room to have lunch. The verdict is in: I definitely prefer the Isaac Toast in Gimhae more than both of the sandwiches I've had in Seoul. However, I still love eating the sandwich! As I was finishing, there was a knock on my door and it was the cleaning/fumigation people. Here, like at Inje it appears, they will have maybe once a month a time where your room is closed to be sprayed for bugs. So, I went to the Daiso. I was planning on going there anyway, because I needed to get some school supplies and room supplies.

When I returned, I did some homework/studying, my exercises and a little bit of packing. While I am excited to move to a new room, I'm also a little nervous. I hope my new roommate does not mind she is getting a roommate if she was not expecting one. I also have been lucky during the afternoons and early evenings to have the room mostly to myself. My roommate is rarely in here, and I do not know if it's because of our situation or she is just busy with school and friends and is not in a lot. The worst part of our situation is with our sleeping schedule (which is very important), but otherwise, it is (was) nice to be alone for most of the day.

In the evening I spent most of my time studying and planning my day tomorrow. I will meet Hwa Sun and Jaebin at his school because he has a performance. However, right after the performance, they have to leave because they have a family party. (It's funny because Jaebin told his mom, "Amy Nuna (nuna is the term a younger brother calls his older sister) is part of the family. Why can't she come to the party?" ...which made me chuckle a little. Anyway, I have plans to search for a warm winter jacket and a Korean/English dictionary. I was also hoping to find a grocery store near his school (because it is closer to downtown Seoul and I thought since there is a higher concentration of people, there would be the 'big' grocery type stores), but I ended up finding one that is not too far from the university.

All in all, God is good and I'm grateful for the opportunity to be here studying in Korea, having a bed to sleep in/living in a dormitory and being able to develop friendships.

Thankful for good friends

Well, Wednesday night just got better and better after my roommate had her 'screaming' conversation on the computer. I went to bed-or maybe I should say, tried to go to bed around 10:45. At that time, I turned off the main overhead light, but put the small one in the kitchen area on, and climbed into bed. My roommate saw me do this and yet proceeded to start some laundry, take a shower and blow dry her hair (without closing the bathroom door--I got out of bed and closed the door). Close to midnight she told me she was going to visit a friend and would I like the light in the room off (yes) and the light in the bathroom off (yes). It was the first time in my 4 or 5 nights here it was actually dark in my room at nighttime.

In the morning, I wrote her a note telling her I had a friend coming to visit overnight and to please not do her laundry after I go to bed. I met Brian and we went to class. I went up and talked to the teacher, again, in Korean to tell her about my roommate situation. She told me I had to talk to the dormitory people, so I did that at the second break. I explained my situation and asked for a single. Unfortunately there is not one, but I will have a Korean roommate on the 2nd floor. And I can move there on Saturday. Classes went well. Even though it is below my level, the activities the teachers had us do were very good. A lot of games/interaction help students learn the new vocabulary words.

After class, I was off to visit Hwa Sun and Jaebin! The subway station right by my dorm has 2 lines going through it which is nice. What's even better is that one of them takes me right to Hwa Sun's station! The only problem is that it is not a very common route, so not knowing in advance, I actually need a timetable so I know when the trains come. I ended up waiting about 15 minutes, but it was not a big deal. Next time I know! While I was waiting, I thought I should text Mr. Lee (the doorman at SWS) because he had my old cell phone number but not my new one. Sometimes he would call me and I didn't want him to wonder why I wasn't answering if he had tried. So, he called me right away and we had a broken conversation in Korean and English. He is so sweet. I think I mentioned before, but he graduated from Kyunghee University with a degree in Economics in the mid-60's (after telling us this, Amanda and I tried to figure out his age!).

I made it to Hwa Sun's and even got lucky-someone was also going into her building as I arrived, so I was able to just jump right into the elevator and go to their house on the 21st floor! They were just about to leave to let me in as I arrived. Jaebin gave me another big hug. I showed them my textbook and my handwriting (they thought it was cute). We had a little snack and then Jaebin's friend came over. After they played and Hwa Sun and I talked, we went to the little playground for their apartment complex and played soccer-Jaebin and his friend against me. It was fun, but I wish I had been wearing my tennis shoes. Then Jaebin's friend's mom met with us and we returned to Hwa Sun's home. The mom's talked while I played with the boys. Then, Jaebin's friend and mom left. Hwa Sun ran over to her mother-in-laws. Jaebin tried to teach me how to play a pokemon game on his gameboy. I "helped" Hwa Sun prepare dinner. She made the ddeokboki (rice cake and vegetable dish) that Amanda and I had had last week, because I told her I wanted the recipe. Basically, she has bulgogi (meat in a soy sauce) in her fridge and uses that as a base for many dishes. Then it was adding the rice cake and carrots, onion and green onion. Pretty easy. She also made samgypsal (remember from yesterday? Pork). We ate and then I played with Jaebin more. She must have popped out real quick because she came into Jaebin's room with ice cream! :) She (unknowingly) bought one of my favorite ice cream treats with the selection she had got. I asked her where I would be able to buy a pillow (since I never got one) and she said I could borrow one, but she felt bad because it is "old and smelly". (It doesn't look old and is not smelly, haha) While she was preparing that, her husband arrived home and they gave me some bread to take back to school with me. They also looked up the train schedule so I know when I should go to the station and not be too late or too early.

Hwa Sun and Jaebin walked me to the station and I headed back to Kyunghee. When I got here, I waited for my friend Min Kyung. I met Min Kyung in 2009 with the GOA'L (Global Overseas Adoptee's Link) trip; she was a volunteer. We chatted for a long time in my room before heading to bed. 

My new (old) pillow and the stuffed animal dog that Jaebin INSISTED that I take to school with me. (Last year he sent me to Inje with a different stuffed animal)

Up and Down Day

This morning I was able to skype with my Mom and Grandpa. It was great seeing and hearing them. Oh yes, I also got to see my Toby-baby as well. I miss his furry little face. We were interrupted by my roommate telling me to "lower your voice!!!" A few minutes later, her alarm clock went off. When I said goodbye to my Mom and Grandpa, I tried to apologize to her, only getting to "I'm sorry" before she quickly said, "It's okay" and immediately turned around, as I continued to say, "I was talking to my Mom and Grandpa...."

So, it was a little difficult not having her care or understand about my situation. I also felt like she was saying "it's okay" because that is the "correct" response when someone says "I'm sorry". I also found out today that the wireless is not actually even hers; it's provided through my residence, so she's not even really sharing that with me!

Anyway, I met Brian and we walked to school. I talked to the teacher--in Korean--to ask if I could change class; I explained that I had read the textbook last night and understood everything. It's just my speaking that is lacking-I understand what I read and some of what is being said around me. She said she would see if there was room in a level 2 class...(the down-another adoptee I met is in level 3 and tried to move to level 2, but they told her there is no room...so I'm guessing I cannot move up.)

So, class proceeded with us finishing the alphabet in the first half. The second half was reading basic words...I knew all the words. After class, Brian and I decided to go to the bookstore and buy level 2 books so we could study together. While we were in the building we decided we'd go to lunch at the 'cafeteria' again since it is in the same building, is cheap, and it was pouring outside. In the cafeteria, we ran into a few of our acquaintances from Monday. We sat with them and talked and then decided to study together after lunch.

Study session went fine. We basically sat at the same table and just worked in our own little worlds. The homework Brian and I have is like child's play compared to their class-they are both in level 3, but not the same class group. We were just writing letters. ㅠ.ㅠ SO SAD!! (That is the Korean character for the sound "you" and they are used to make sad crying eyes--can you see the 2 lines of tears falling from each eye?)

I came back to my residence ready to do some exercising when I saw one of my Korean friends (I met through another adoptee last year) online and asked if she had the same phone number because she mentioned she would be coming to Seoul in a week or two. We had an hour conversation, most of it her making me use Korean. She told me when she comes to visit, I will have to speak in Korean to her too. I'm excited but nervous too.

After our conversation, I finally was able to start on my exercises. Then, I was doing a little bit of dinking around on the computer before I decided to start on my homework. However, Brian asked me if I had eaten dinner yet (I had snacked a bit, but not eaten too much) so we decided to go out. We went to his favorite samgypsal (Korean pork BBQ--we grill the food at our table) place.

I have finally arrived back and am ready to finish my pages and pages of handwriting. While very easy to do, I think it will be a bit tedious. Also, as I finished up writing this, my roommate has started a skype conversation of some sort with someone and is speaking overly loud I believe...and I wonder if it's because I woke her up this morning.

First Day of School

Well, today was the first day of class. Brian met with me again and we walked to campus. We stopped at the bookstore and bought our books for class-a textbook and a workbook. I found my classroom and sat down. A few minutes later I hear some English and turn around-hey, it's Brian! So, he was even put in the same class as me, even though it appears there are many, many level 1 classes. (I'm still confused because I actually never found my name on the list, but asked someone in charge what room I should go to.)

The morning is split up into 4 classes/sessions, each 50 minutes long. The first chunk of 2 has one teacher and the second chunk has a different one. The first two classes we worked on all the vowels and diphthongs. The last two classes we practiced consonants and didn't even get to all of them. So, like I was dreading, it looks like several days of the alphabet. I wish they had done a better job of placing us within in the levels. For example, if you have had no exposure to the Korean language before, then those students should all be in the same class, and if you have studied at all before with their program or somewhere else, those students should be in another level 1 class. And if you were close to passing into level 2, those students should also be in a different level 1 class. But, maybe that is too much organizing for them. Anyway, classes went fine and I had no problems.

At 1, when class was over, I walked back to my residence. I stopped at the Daiso (dollar store) for a notebook and the kimbap shop for lunch to bring back.

In the afternoon, I texted back and forth with an Korean friend in the area. Now mind, you texting on my new phone is quite the task for me. This was an activity that took about 30 minutes or so. (In the US, it probably would have taken 5 minutes, 10 tops.) After the texting escapade, I did some exercising in my room. I was able to chat with Jenny/Jung Yoon, my roommate from last year, and then studied some.

In the evening, I went to the Paris Baguette to see if they have the bags of bread at the end of the day like the PB in Gimhae. I went at 8:15 and there wasn't any. I took a walk around the area, stopped in a few clothing stores and came back to the PB around 8:45 and there still weren't any bags of bread. Sad. Guess I'll stay on the look out for them though in the next few days.

Orientation and Placement Test Day

Today I woke up before my alarm as usual. It was nice because I got a chance to talk to Joe before starting my day here.

I met Brian in the street. He is living in a different building than me, but very close. He showed me a short cut to school. Unfortunately, I don't quite remember the way yet. We went to the IIE (Institute of International Education) building, only to be redirected to the "Crown Shaped Building" about 5 minutes away. We had the orientation, which was basically them reading a list of information to us, which they had just handed to us. Then, there was a Welcoming Ceremony, and some important person talked to us and they translated into English, Chinese and Japanese for the group, and then announced all the countries represented there. Brian and I happened to sit next to 2 other adoptees and some people they had befriended. So I've met a young woman from Ireland, Mexico and Switzerland and a young man from Australia. We went to lunch at the cafeteria. It is relatively cheap (less than 4,000W= less than $4), but the system was very confusing. They have a cabinet where they have what is being served on display and you can look at that and a line next to it for a change machine. Inside, you go to a 'booth' and place your order and pay. You get a little slip and it tells you which "kitchen station" to go to to pick up your food. You hand your little slip to the kitchen ladies and then you get your food. I tried a bulgogi wrap, but some of the other stuff looked good-and came with side dishes too. It was hectic like I mentioned before, and right at noon, so there were many, many students in the cafeteria (and they all knew what they were doing). After lunch, we took a quick tour of that building-it houses the bookstore, and then off to the placement test.

There were 50 questions on the test, and the started out very easy and got very difficult. I only made it up to #28 before saying, yea, I can read what it says, but I really have no idea what I'm reading and anything I get right is only from guessing. I got 14 right. After we got our test back, then we went to have an interview with a native speaker. I'm guessing I didn't do so well...she asked me about the weather and I said it was cold (because I was cold...) and then she asked me a question but I had no idea what she asked. I explained, in Korean, that I had studied for 4 months at Inje. Then she asked me to read a few sentences in a textbook. I did so, fine, I thought-she also nodded her head and made an encouraging sound, and then said, "level 1". What?? So, even with my little bit of background knowledge I still did not break through to level 2. I'm really bummed and disappointed in myself. I just hope that it is not painstakingly easy or repetitive or focuses too much on the basics that I already know. I'm dreading tomorrow and having to go over and over and over the alphabet. :(

After the placement test, I came back to my residence. Roommate has still not been seen since last night. I chatted with Jihye (my coordinator from last year) and studied on my Rosetta Stone for a bit.

Around 6:30 I met Brian to go to dinner. We walked around for awhile before finding a bibimbop type of restaurant (hot stone bowls with rice and then you could choose, meat, fish, kimchi, vegetables etc. to be inside-all were set menu items though-not like you could create your own). I got a tuna and kimchi one. It was pretty good and very reasonably priced. I ended up paying for Brian's because he has replied to so many emails and questions from me over the past few months that I needed to repay him. Our total only came to 8,000W (less than $8). They were very filling too. Afterwards, I stopped at a Daiso (Korean dollar store) to get coat hangers and some little hooks to hang things up.

We will see what tomorrow brings. 

Chang Deok Ahn "Dormitory"

We woke bright and early to make sure Amanda got the airport shuttle bus in time. Then, she was off and I was on my own. I went to the subway station to time how long it would take me to walk from the guesthouse to there. Then, I came back and finished packing and organizing before heading to the station a bit early before my meeting time with Jenny's brother (my roommate from Inje) Chang Hwan. As it turned out, he also arrived early and we were off to Kyunghee University area ahead of schedule. His English is not as good as Jenny's, but we were still able to communicate and have short conversations. I was very thankful to have someone to help me with my bags.

We found the 'dormitory' (you may note that I keep putting dormitory in quotation marks...this is because it's not really a dorm. It is not on campus, but it is still kind of university housing. It is more like a mini-apartment in that it has a sink, cooking range, washing/drying machine (all in one), microwave, refrigerator and bathroom. Whew-you also may think that this must be a big space, but it's not. It's probably half the size of a typical hotel room...maybe 18ft x 10ft (though I'm not good at guessing lengths). Anyway, the room is nice, bunkbeds (I have the top) but only one desk. And I'm thinking 'normal' school has been in session for at least a month or so, so she is all settled in. Which leaves me "odd man out" a little. Also, do not currently have an internet cable and am using wifi from someplace around here I guess.

My roommate is a native Korean (I've already forgotten her name...I know her English name is Katherine). I've really only interacted with her for about 3 minutes today. She left to go visit a friend and said she would be back quickly...she was gone for at least 4 1/2 hours... I went out around 3:30 and then again around 6. The first trip was just to see what the area is like. There are lots of restaurants, some shops, and lots of coffee shops. I did navigate to the university and walked on campus for a bit, and then wandered off campus and found another university. There, I watched some guys playing soccer for about 20 minutes. I also found a little grocery store and got some fruit, yogurt and snacks. I came back to my room and studied and then went out again to try and find internet at a cafe. I walked into a whole bunch of them (also looking at the menu) and picked one. Go figure, the one I pick doesn't have internet! So, I took my time there and had my drink (Hot Vanilla- not Chocolate...) and then went in search of another place for internet.

I am just about ready to crash I think. Since I had an early morning and tomorrow is the big "first day of school" deal. Well, just orientation and placement testing... Anyway, my contact here is going to meet me in the morning and walk to school with me. I'm so thankful to have someone to help out a little. Kyunghee is SO much bigger than Inje (I am really homesick for Inje! Even though everything is a bit nicer and a lot newer dorm-wise, I really do wish I was in crazy ole ET-English Town!)

**UPDATE** My roommate is NOT Korean. She only speaks pretty much fluent sounding Korean, and gave me a Korean name when I asked her if she had one. Hmm... We also were able to rearrange the closets some, so I do have my own personal space-small though it be, I'm happy. And now this happy camper is heading to bed!

Standing in the entrance/foyer-"kitchen" to the left, bathroom to the right, living space in the background

Good sized bathroom, with door to the shower area

Dishwasher/dryer unit, stove top,sink, fridge and microwave (the one and only desk stretching from the fridge to the window)

Bunk beds; I have the top bunk

View of the room standing with my back against the window. Our two closets; I have the smaller one on the left. (The bigger one has two doors that open out)

Amanda's Last Full Day

We had a nice relaxing morning. When we went to breakfast, we started chatting with a man in his 50's or 60's. Then he was joined by his wife. Shortly after, his son arrived and we realized that they were on the JSA tour with us!! We sat and talked with them for about an hour!

We decided to go to Olympic Park for our last day. As always, we have this strange luck of being at the right place at the right time to see different events or activities going on. There was a 'festival' of sorts going on at Olympic Park, where non-profit organizations had booths set up and were showing what they did, giving out info, etc. We walked through most of the park, saw many of the Olympic buildings (only the handball stadium was open, the rest were locked), and 2 museums.

Around 3 we headed to Han River Park, and stopped at a Lotte Department Store to find dinner. We tried to go on a river cruise, but from the X the lady made with her hands, there were no more tickets by some chance so we could not go. I think we were too late and there were no more boats. So, we just sat by the river and people watched.

We headed back to our guesthouse, regrouped and walked to Myeongdong to try and find a BBQ place to have dinner. We found one and tried to order just 1 plate of meat to grill, but our waiter told us we had to order 2, but it would be cheaper. So we did that. The place was pretty busy and it took them quite awhile to get all the side dishes to us. When we went to pay, it was more expensive than what we were expecting, and the owner guy didn't understand us. A nice young couple waiting in line to pay asked what was going on and translated for us. They told us that the server probably had made a mistake, so we had to pay the larger sum. Then we returned and Amanda and I both packed/organized our bags.

In front of the entrance to Olympic Park

Gymnastics Hall was closed

I remember being boosted up here and sitting for a picture when I was 9 years old

Amanda experiencing grilling at Korean BBQ

Oh the People You will Meet

This is a special entry dedicated to the random friendly strangers we have met on our trip. We are reflecting on the interactions we have had with native Koreans or other travelers because our trip together is drawing to an end. Amanda just took off for the airport.

In no particular order, here are our "special friendly friends"

1. Lady on 128-1 Bus in Gimhae: She took Amanda's duffel bag as we were being swung around like crazy on the bus ride.

2. Bus driver on 128-1: Had a conversation with Amanda and Amanda told him all of the Korean words she knew. (While he was driving-which made me nervous)

3. Two Inje Student "Security?": stopped the university car they were driving to say hello and talk with us for about 5 minutes. They invited us to have lunch, and when we declined lunch, asked if we would have coffee (which we also declined).

4. "Train Kim": Watched Amanda and me play and make faces with the little girl in the seat in front of us. Struck up a conversation by telling us, "I think the little girl enjoyed you!" and then we had a conversation for about 20 minutes before he got off on his stop.

5. Peter: Amanda and I were on the subway and we were sitting next to him; he was studying English in a workbook and Amanda asked him something like, "what are you studying?" And we had a short conversation with him before getting off at our stop.

6. Minnesota Guy and 2 Korean friends: They were making fun of one of the friends for using a purse and Minnesota Guy said, I would use one for candy and chapstick. To which Amanda responded: Candy! And showed her bag of candy in her purse.

7. Worker on Subway Studying English: Amanda and I were talking while on the subway and this young man interrupts us and tells me I have very good English and asked Amanda where she was from.

8. Four Malaysian Friends: We saw four women trying to take a group photo and Amanda offered to take their picture so all of them could be in it; then we chatted a little about where we were from.

9. Londoners: On our JSA tour we met 2 friends from London-the guy is teaching her and the girl was visiting him.

10. Australian & New Zealand Travel Conference Tour Folk: We saw a big group of older people trying to take a group photo in the subway. We offered to take some pictures for them and chatted with them til the subway arrived. I assured them they were headed in the right direction and I told a woman I wanted to go to New Zealand. She gave me a small woven bag as a souvenir from New Zealand!

11. Canadian Korean Lady: On the subway, Amanda tried to give her seat to a grandfather, but he declined and kept walking. Canadian Korean Lady turned to her and said, "Oh that was nice!" and then we had a conversation with her til we got off the subway.

12. Chinese Couple at Cheongyecheon: Hwa Sun was looking for someone to take our picture and the wife offered to photograph us, then she asked her husband to take a picture of her with us.

13. Ajusshi's in the Mountain: I asked them in my broken, limited Korean if they wanted a picture of them together, so I did that, and then they asked if we wanted one together so we said yes. They also took a picture of us with their own camera too.

14. Girl on Train: She was looking at us so we smiled at her and then began about 5-7 minute interaction of face making and playing before she said, "bye, bye!" and got off the train with her family.

15. Girl on Subway: Amanda was hanging on the hand 'straps'/'stirrups' (to hold on to so you don't fall over on the subway) and this little girl (about 10 or so) copied everything Amanda did. When she got off on her stop, she waved bye to Amanda.

16. Little boy on subway: On our way to go mountain hiking a little boy made faces back and forth with us.

17. Doghouse Friends: Some students at the Dog House in Gimhae asked to play darts with Amanda

18. Singapore Family: We went for breakfast in our hostel and started chatting with an man in his 50's-60's, later his wife joined him. About 5 minutes later, his son arrived and he looked familiar to us-then we realized we were on the JSA tour together!! That was pretty wild. We had an hour long conversation sharing information about our countries and about ourselves.

19. Front Desk Guy at our Hostel:Every day he and the woman (owner?) would ask us where we were going or if we had any questions about how to get where we needed to go.

20. Two random men in the subway: Helped Amanda and me with our luggage as we were en route from SWS to our new lounge

21. Two brothers at the park: Amanda and I were watching these 2 adorable little boys running around-they would run closer and closer to us. Finally, the younger one came within 8 feet of us and waved and said, "hellllo!" and then ran away, this happened a few more times. As we continued watching them running around, the younger one also approached a young couple eating McDonalds. The man might have been Korean-American as he seemed quite fluent in English (no accent) and Korean; he told the boy, "If you speak English I'll hook you up" (meaning french fries). I don't think the little boy said anything, but the woman gave him a fry, and then the little boy ended up grabbing several other fries on his own. His older brother came and he took a fry or two also. Then he ran back to Grandma, (maybe tattled) and he and Grandma returned. Grandma spanked the youngest one and then chased him around-as he was trying to get more fries. It was hilarious. A few minutes later, Grandma and both boys went walking by to get a snack from the convenience store; they stopped and said "hellllo!" again and chatted with us very briefly and brokenly.

Hwa Sun and Jaebin day!!

What a wonderful, wonderful day!

Amanda and I both slept late! (Or late for us at least) We had a nice leisurely morning and stopped at Tom N Tom's for honey butter toast for breakfast-I got her hooked!! Then we hopped on the subway to go see Hwa Sun. We waited for her to come pick us up at the subway station and then walked to her new apartment. It is a bit bigger than her last one, but the layout is very similar. We visited with her a bit and then we had lunch-kimbap (without any seafood) and ddeokboki made with soy sauce. (Ddeok is Korean rice cake-made from rice flour). It was really, really good! And Amanda tried the kimbap and didn't mind it. I think I scarred her because I had her try plain seaweed once at home and she did not really like it....but kimbap is different (because of the rice, vegetables and meat rolled inside it)! We played Jenga and taught Hwa Sun how to play war while we waited for Jaebin to arrive home from school.

Finally it was time to get him from his bus. We had to walk about 4 minutes to the bus stop, and as we turned the corner I hear, "AAAAAMMY NUUUUUNA!!!!!" and Jaebin comes running at me and gives me a great big hug! :) He walked for 1-2 minutes with his arms around me and then also held my hand which really surprised me-I mean come on! He's an 8 year old boy with some of his school friends and classmates around! But I loved it. I talked with him in English on the walk home; his English has gotten quite good in the year and a half since I've seen him. He knows a lot and as time went on he wasn't so shy to speak it either. Upon arriving at home, he had a few minutes to relax and then we were off on the subway to Namsangol Village-some traditional Korean houses. We walked around there a bit and then took a taxi to Cheongyecheon. Hwa Sun said it was their first time there. Jaebin was very busy trying to catch the fish in the stream bare-handed. We went to Baskin Robins and got ice cream. :)

Then we were off to Itaewon. We walked around there a bit and then sat in a Paris Baguette to wait for Mr. Ryu to meet us. He arrived shortly after we sat down and then we went in search of a restaurant. They decided on a pizza/pasta-Italian type place that they had been to before. It was cute inside and the food was delicious! We ordered a caprese salad, margarita pizza, a steak, carbonara pasta and a spaghetti with a type of marinara sauce. It was so good to see them and spend time with them. They are like family to me. When we left, I told Amanda that and she said, "they treat you like family". I really love them and am so thankful to have met them and developed a friendship with them over the years.  

Reunited with Amy Nuna!!

So happy!!

With Amanda and Jaebin at Namsangol Hanok Village

Lovely ladies!

Group picture by Cheongyecheon

Group dinner at a cute place in Itaewon

JSA

After breakfast at the guesthouse, we had a little time to relax before heading out the JSA tour center. We got there and were directed to our bus. Our tour guide was a very energetic ajumma ("auntie"/older woman).

First stop was Odusan Observatory where we were able to get a good look across the Imjin River and see into North Korea-I was surprised there was no surveillance and we were free to take pictures. We also watched a short clip about North Korea and how lavish Kim Jong-Il had lived and how much suffering the 6 million citizens are undergoing. There were also North Korean "items" like clothing, a school room, shoes, money etc.

Then on to Imjingak to see the Reunification Bridge, Peace Bell, and the old train. That was a quick, short stop.

After Imjingak, we had lunch at a Korean restaurant. We had bulgogi, so it was the first 'grilling' food experience Amanda has had so far. I'm hoping I can take her for "REAL" bbq with my friend Ji this weekend before she leaves. We sat with a pair from England. The guy has been teaching in Korea for 2 1/2 years and the girl was visiting him. It was fun chatting with them.

Finally on to JSA! We first went to Camp Boniface to get 'briefed'. Basically just showing us pictures of the different places we were going to see, show us what buildings are North Korean and what buildings are South Korean, and for us to sign waivers that the United Nations would not be held responsible if anything were to happen to us while we were in the JSA.

We took military buses to the Freedom House which is the building the South Koreans/UN have that faces North Korea. Then we were allowed to take pictures of North Korea/the buildings over the border etc, as long as we did NOT turn around and take ANY pictures facing SOUTH. Also, we were instructed to not point, gesture or make any other form of communication with any North Korean soldiers. There was only one NK soldier out in view, but our American UN escort told us that the NK's were watching us from their buildings and we could just not see them. That was kind of creepy-knowing they were watching us. (Also, we had a dress code to follow and that is so that the NK's cannot take our pictures-if one is ill dressed-and use it as propaganda) Then we were allowed to go into the conference building(MAC)  that goes across the border and we were allowed to walk inside and step "over" the border and "into" North Korea (within the building of course), so that was pretty cool. We took a short bus 'tour'/ride around that area a bit more before heading back to Camp Boniface. Then, it was back into Seoul!

We found Isaac's and had toast for dinner!! :) However, I must say, I preferred my Gimhae/Inje "Bacon Best(uh)" Toast better than this one. It was still delicious and I loved it though! And I was happy to share another favorite thing from Korea with Amanda.

Now we are just resting a bit. PSY (Korean singer) is having a free concert/performance with the Hi Seoul Festival that is going on this week. It was only just announced a few days ago. We are thinking of going to that, because he's pretty famous and all-I think it is just one of those "when else will you get a chance to do that?!?!?" kind of experiences.  

Either called Freedom Bridge or Reunification Bridge, but South Korean's leave messages here for their Northern loved ones

Well, there it is folks! You are looking into North Korea. Do you see the North Korean soldier? (He's in the window well of the bottom row; 4th window from the left-don't count the windows behind the trees, just the windows you can see)

The building with the door open is the meeting/conference room

Amanda and me in the JSA!

Inside the conference room; everything to the left side is South Korea, everything to the right is North Korea...I am standing in North Korea

Inside the Conference room looking outside-Left side is North Korea, Right side South Korea