After writing a happy birthday email to my Mom (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA MUFFETT!!!!), I realized that I’d written a ton about our trip in Korea so far. It was intended to be a “brief rundown,” I said, but ended up pretty long. So, I’ll make more use of it by posting my log here, for you to enjoy. Pictures will come when we get back to Taiwan, on Thursday.
Here’s the briefest summary I can manage: We’ve been having an adventurous, crazy, bizarre, cultured, insightful, fun, FUN time here in South Korea!!! Wish you were here 
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Well – we’ve spent a crazy 5 nights in Korea so far, and only have 3 left (boo!) Why is it that adventures make time seem so much longer than normal? hm. We’ve been having a seriously awesome time, backpacking and staying in youth hostels, riding the VAST subway and finding our way by bus from town to town. Michael is such a good adventure-leader, there’s never a dull moment!
Day 1: After packing everything else, I looked for my passport and discovered it was missing. AAAHHHH!!!! But, after racing around town, I got a new, temporary one in less than 5 hours! Wow!!! We made our flight and got to Korea safely. But then…after trying our credit cards at the airport ATM, neither one of us could guess our PIN. We had almost no money in cash…not good. We got to our hostel (which was actually just a private hotel room for super cheap), Michael called the bank in the US, and we were told we could get a cash advance from any bank without using our PIN. Thank you GOD!!!
Day 2: Left the airport hostel mid-morning, took the 1-hour bus into Seoul, and got settled in at the next hostel – 3 bunks, heated beds, nice roomies and just across the street from a hoppin’ university town. After getting some cash, we spent the day wandering around, eating strange and wonderful foods, buying fun clothes, and looking for a bar that might not exist: our search for live music was fruitless, but we spent a few hours listening to a DJ at a local pub.
Day 3: Slept in (as usual), took a tour of the last imperial residence palace, which just so happens to be smack in the middle of the city. It was absolutely beautiful! Woodsy and set in with the landscape, it reminded me of the asian version of a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece. You’d love it there. That night we went to a traditional music and dance concert at the Chong Dong Theater, with crazy drums, singing and perfectly synchronized, beautiful dancers. I got called up on stage but the drummers, who happened to be a bunch of hams, and after throwing a spinning disk around was given a long pipe! yay! We spent the evening popping into bars and music clubs, hoping to find some good local talent, and we did
Day 4: After less than 3 hours of sleep, we packed up and made it to the USO Korea, where we took a tour bus to the DMZ. Our tour guide was a hilarious Korean man, who was largely incomprehensible, which made us laugh constantly. I think he kept trying to tell jokes or something, and it just wasn’t working out! hehe. The actual DMZ was…bizarre. There we were, standing on the North Korean side of the room where they have joint meetings, our every move monitored, taking….pictures? It seemed so unreal. At one observation point, we could see a few kilometers into N. Korea. The day before, I had finished reading a historical fiction account of the Korean War, in which a Chinese soldier ended up in a POW camp in Korea, and ultimately had to choose whether he would repatriate to China and his family, or leave for the unknown free world of Taiwan. I saw the bridge between North and South, the same one he had to cross over himself. It was crazy. We returned to town and found our way to the city bus station, and after some attempts at sign language got bus tickets to a town close to both our ski resort and a national park. We stopped into a local restaurant, ate a hearty meal, and were pointed to a hotel in town – one that happened to be clean, cheap, and warm. We slept on the heated floors with a few blankets. Heavenly! Wow that was a long day.
Day 5: We had Jefferies church in the morning, then set out to find out how to take a bus to Odaesan National Park. While we were waiting for our bus, we stopped into a coffee shop for some breakfast. They didn’t take credit card, so we were going to leave – but they begged us to stay, and gave us some free coffee! So friendly and warm! We got off the bus at one mountain temple, then hiked 3 hours (with our packs) along the river to Woljeongsa Temple, planning to take the bus back…but at Woljeangsa we were approached by a Korean man who first asked us where we were going, then offered to drive us there! We were skeptical, but then he took us to meet the rest of the gang – other people also living at the temple. We went out to dinner with them, a lively bunch, and had sooo much fun. Mr. Joo (that’s his name) drove us to YongPyong Ski Resort, took us swimming, bought us presents and ice cream, and generally made us feel totally unworthy. What an amazing man! We slept in the youth hostel, which is virtually empty (my room really is empty), which is only $7 a night
Day 6: That’s today. Mr. Joo met us bright and early this morning with a suitcase full of ski clothes, and proceeded to outfit us with the best gear, things we definitely would have had to rent otherwise. “Templestay” members also get 50% off of lift tickets, so we are saving so much money just by having him around! Seriously…God is so kind to us. We three skied hard today, and I fell only a few times. hoorah! I’m getting better. This was only my 5th day of skiing ever, which is really amazing. Michael is a good teacher
Now we’re sitting in a cafe, Michael’s reading, and we just finished some pizza. And my “little update” has turned into a pretty long narrative. whoops There’s so much I left out, too… We plan to ski tomorrow as well, maybe Wednesday too, and then head back to Seoul Wednesday night. Our flight leaves at 1pm on Thursday. I start school again on Monday.
Life goes fast
Love you all!!!!!!
Emily
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