We have arrived in Seoul, South Korea! I am so very excited to be here as I was looking forward to this probably more than any of our other stops on Global - mostly due to my cousin spending a year and a half here and talking it up big for me. This highlights of the next three weeks will include a visit to the DMZ and also a weekend excursion to the south. Also, the conversion is 1,264 Won to the dollar, so buying a meal for 4,000 won is basically three and a half bucks - crazy stuff. (This will take a while to get used to!)
First, a recap of the past week. We saw the home of Confucious, the Family Mozaleeum, and the Forbidden City. And of course, we climbed THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA! Wow! Possibly the coolest thing I've done on this trip - it's so hard to compare the Pyramids, Taj Mahal, and the Great Wall because they are all so amazing in their own right. Very cool - I am so blessed to have expierenced it!
New Years was spent playing Beer Pong in the hotel rooms, a trip to the plaza where a live band helped us to ring in the new year (including dancing on stage with the band), and a kareokee bar -- possibly my favorite and most fun new years ever.
We awoke this morning at about 4:45 local time and were at the airport within the hour. Our day started very eventfully with Gavin shutting the bus storage door on Stacy's head, slicing a gash about 1/2 inch long and an 1/8 inch deep. Needless to say it immediately started gushing blood (cool!). Not to toot my own horn, but yes, my years of first aid training paid off and I jumped into action - including gloves and guaze pads! Not going to lie...I was kind of impressed with myself. Anyways, she's alive, we (obviously) all made it to Seoul, and after a trip to the doctor no stitches were necessary - she's a tough cookie...
The rest of the day was largely uneventful. I now have numerous stamps in my passport, and my bags are beginning to show the wear and tear of traveling the world for four months. We are staying at Yon Sei University, which is very close to a part of downtown with great food and an exciting nightlife. Tonight we went out to dinner with some students and exchanged numbers; hopefully we'll be able to hang out with them in the coming weeks. We are living in a dormitory style again, something we haven't really expierenced on this trip yet and something I realized I didn't miss at all. Gender relations here are INCREDIBLY strict, and thus there is a women's wing and a men's wing which are strictly enforced with security guards and cameras (no exageration). There is a common lounge in the basement with computers and TV which we can all share which is nice - we will surely be spending mucho tiempo aqui. I am living on the fifth floor with no elevator - I'm going to have an ass of steel after three weeks!
Missing and loving all of you!
- CM
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