Day 2

Okay, where did I leave off? Okay, we ate this wonderful breakfast, and exchanged some money into won, and were off to see Seoul. I think it was about a mile walk, maybe a little less, from our hotel to the subway station, but my dad thinks it was shorter. We boarded the subway, and went to a palace. Now, I can' remember how to spell it, but it was the king's palace during the Jeoysen Dynasty. (This is all spelled wrong...)Now, we arrived at the front, and saw a huge asian like structure, and one behind it, and as we started a tour, this palace went on FOREVER! Seriously, we would see one building, go through a gate in a brick wall, and there would be a lake, more buildings. It was crazy. We walked through gate after gate. We learned tons about this kingdom. The cutest thing was all the little Korean kids. Now, we are DEFINITELY a minority here. Korea is not your typical vacation destination. One little kid walked up to Troy, and looked up in awe of him. Another little kid walked up to my mom, and said, "Hi, I'm from Korea". It was cute. I'm sure they all know English, but that was probably one of the first thing he learned, so he said it. Another little boy brought Troy a paper and asked for his autograph. Then, my mom talked to a little girl. My mom asked her if she was 10and the little girl shook her head, and said, "NO, twenty!" It was so cute how excited they all were to see white people! The Korean name for American's, is "eegook" (phonetically spelled), so during the day, we heard kids saying that. There was a boy scout group, and I took a picture of one of the boys.

After the morning was spent at the palace (which, was technically all re-built, because the Japanese burnt it all down) we got on the Subway, and headed for a shopping center. I have to tell you, the worst thing for me, is getting on a Subway that is JAM packed. It stinks so bad. You literally have to push people, just to get on. Most tourists don't ride the subway. Thanks David! ;) This shopping center was crazy. It seemed a lot like Mexico. Bartering, but then they had seafood, and all sorts of stuff for sale. I got some good pictures. They have a lot of street vendors here. My favorite, was a steaming bowl of larvae - or cooked beetles. I got a picture, but that was as close as I got. Michael claims he will try some before he leaves. It rained on us throughout the day.

On our way to dinner, we stopped by the "#1 National Treasure of Korea. Apparently, it's like an ancient gateway to Seoul. Which, a few months ago, a disgruntled farmer burnt down. They had built this huge building around the remains, and were trying to rebuild it. It was covered with messages on paper. David says it's like our ground zero. Kind of crazy - all for an ancient building. Some of the places we had been earlier that day were the #882 National Treasure of Korea.

We were on our way to dinner. This was the thing I had been dreading most. It was okay. You sat on the floor, and cooked your own food over charcoal. It's too hard to describe, so you'll have to wait for the pictures. It wasn't too great. Troy thought he would starve if he had to eat with chopsticks, but luckily they brought him a fork. We headed back to the hotel. On the subway, we were all amazed at how much David can converse with Koreans. He's only been here for 7 months, and you can tell he asks them to repeat what they said, but if it hadn't been for him, we wouldn't have even known what to order. Or asked for water... or asked for the bill. We got back to the hotel around 6:30.

We knew Jason was "SUPPOSED" to be here around 7 or 8. Well, we were exhausted. I can't believe how much walking we did! Troy and I went to our room, and immediately fell asleep. Jason did arrive. MIRACLE! He got from the airport to the hotel all by himself! When he walked in the room, everyone asked, "How'd you get here?" Jason answered, "What, do you think I'm an idiot?" Well, everyone laughed - knowing the answer. We woke up at about 5:30 this morning, and couldn't go back to sleep. We got ready, and ate breakfast. My brothers are all staying at David's, and we just finished our second morning of a good breakfast. I think we're going to go catch a cab to see the Seoul temple, and then meet up with my brothers. We're planning on seeing the Olympic Torch run through. And, whatever else David takes us to. Hope all is well! More tomorrow!