GOOOOOOD Morning SEOOOUUL!

For the past week I have had the opportunity to visit amazing tourist sites in Seoul!!! My relatives have been quite worried about me being bored. And truthfully I have only been bored one day, when I did not have any of my stuff with me (IPOD, korean english dictionary, clothes, journal etc.) But other than that I have had plenty to do. I have been studying Korean, taking photos, sitting with my grandmother, eating, eating, and more eating, journaling, and planning and thinking about the future. So in short, boredom is merely the product of idleness and lack of creativity.

With that having been said my 2nd Uncle and his wife took me to Seoul to go site seeing. Since I was not able to blog about it during my time there I will blog about each day during my last seven days here.

On the 26th my 2nd Aunt woke me up for breakfast and informed me that my 2nd Uncle and his wife were taking me to Seoul. I breakfasted quickly, showered, got dressed quickly and packed my trusty backpack to set out for our trip. When my family saw my back pack the said it was too big but for a week in Seoul I had packed relatively light. But I still went ahead and took out another 2.5kilos of stuff. My 2nd aunt and uncle dropped us off at the train station and we took the Ko-Rail to Suwon, which is right out side of Seoul.

Seeing all the cities and towns whizzing by in the light of day was certainly more interesting than by night. As we approached closer to our final destination the skyline became more and more dense with the buildings and office complexes and businesses. Because there are so many people in Seoul around 12 million, towering apartment complexes and condos line the city skyline. With such a mass of humanity to house the only direction available these days is vertical and no longer horizontal.

Upon arrival to Suwon we bused over to 2nd uncle's youngest daughter's condo. We rested, ate dinner, and picked up a rather old and dubious looking Hyundai work truck. Our next stop was to see my 1st Aunt Jung Hwa, at her home in Incheon which is to the west of central Seoul. I cannot begin to describe the traffic, the ebb and flow of cars, taxis, and delivery trucks dodging in and out of our lane was pure insanity. But in a city akin to New York City, my uncle driving 20kph under the speed limit would ve driven me mad as well.

But finally after much excitement driving through Seoul we arrived and I was able to see for the first time my 1st Aunt and her eldest son and his family.

(here is the link to that photo photo of Kyong Do and family and photo of my 1st Aunt)

Today on the 31st my 2nd Aunt took me into Sangju to pick up my traditional Korean dress (hanbok) that I had a fitting for last week. (photo of hanboks) The lady in the hanbok was the epitomy of korean feminity. And for some reason or other she took a liking to me in all my American brashness and threw in several traditional korean gifts free of charge. She showed me how to put it on because there are special pantlets, socks, a petticoat and liner for the jacket the skirt, the outer jacket and even shoes that have a upturning point. She explained that the hanbok was the model of Confucian feminie modesty, the women would bind their breasts and would appear almost flatchested (not that most of us Korean females need help in that department) and walk with the shoulders hunche forward as not to draw attention to their bust (or the lack their of). After my fitting was complete, to see my self in the full length mirror, for just a half a second I saw my mother looking back at me. I have never really thought I much resemble my mom until today.

This evening my 2nd aunt and her husband went to pick up their youngest son who is home for to celebrate the Lunar new year with family. He understands some English but does not speak much. It is funny how there are somethings that defy language barriers: food and music. At around 12am after my cousin's arrival I sat down to what was my fifth meal of the day with my cousin. We showed each other photos, (my photos of family and his of his girlfriend, who happens to be very pretty, and he said in Korean (with his chest and head inflated), something to the effect "yea I m the man." Then I asked to see his guitar. I played a few songs, in hindsight, I wish I would not have, because my cousin is crazy good at playing. He played several pieces for me, Jimmy Hendrix Little Wing, several blues pieces, a neo classical piece, some Eric Clapton, and a few other rock pieces I did not recognize. Then we both played some of our favorite artist. He has been playing for several years 8 to be exact, so I got 5 years to catch up at least. So thus concluded my evening. I hope God will understand why I have been so glutonous as of late. When I have an aunt with her smile and doting giving me food, and my talkative doting grandmother giving me her portion, and cousins offering me food all out of love, how can you say no.

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God!"

1st Corinthians 10:31