Some Serious but interesting thoughts......
Recently, I have learned some important female lessons concerning the Korean male culture. I don't want to insult the Korean culture and by no means does my experience suggest that the following is the norm. Men are pretty much the same everywhere after all.  From what I have seen of "night life" and certain kind of "Hotels" which are EVERYWHERE (not complaining ether... they're cheep when you need to save money), married men here don't appear to be too concerned with faithfulness. Ironically, my friend and I were speaking about how we have not seen Korean men wearing wedding rings...... At all. So how can you tell if their married? You can't!!!! Most always are though so be carful.... they are so not afraid to hit on you, put a drink in your hand weather you ask or not, and invite you somewhere like a Hotel.  I have been with a group of friends (most single  but of course Matt and I a couple) and Korean men randomly  joined our group for fun and drinks (fine at first). Long story short, they became more and more friendly and after Matt and I left the party seine, my friends reported that these guys (who we knew were married from earlier convo) asked them to come to a hotel with them. It doesn't take a PhD for a girl to know what their game was, but wow, they were very direct and unconcerned about it.  Since this evening I have asked some other girlfriends who have been here a while and this seems to happen a lot more often than you think. It's nothing to fear, but to be aware of. I would and will always party with a group of people I know well here.. Again, I don't want this to come across as the norm, but I am certainly more cautious here that I would be at home. After all, prostitution was still legal as of a few years ago and if a women is within  a 'Hotel' room (by her own means or not) it is not considered rape here if anything happens. Like I said ...... women have to be a little more cautious and discerning here.

On to lighter topics!! I am getting so use to everything here that nothing really brings about the "WHAT!!!" moment. Every now and then however, I get the 'blank stair' trying to figure out what is wrong with the picture. For example, yesterday I was at a little restaurant place ordering a late dinner for Matt and I to take home. While I was standing around waiting for our order a little kid with his little back pack comes in, jumps up  to sit in a chair at the dinner bar, and orders dinner. HE WAS ALONE!!! It looked like he just got done with school and it was like 8pm..... no parents in sight. He could not have been older than 8. I just stared like an idiot cause this little kid looked more independent and adult then I do half the time. I wouldn't have been more bewildered if he whipped out a little wallet and pulled out one of many credit cards to pay for his food  Sad, but amazing.

The last week or so has been fairly uneventful. Last weekend, Matt and I went to Gyeongju World with some friends. It's an amusement park similar to 6 Flags, but smaller.  There were some great rides and it's very nice.... surprisingly.  This area of town was built for tourism so it's a very nice area. It's also where Korea boas it's one and only Drive Through Starbucks!!
Check out some pics from Gyeongjy WOrld.

Matt's Birthday Dinner.

 Our first trip to Busan. A friend brought us to an awesome bar called "Beached". It had an awesome view of the sea!!

Nov 1 Update on Korea!

Matt and I have been back in Korea almost a month now. Many of our friends were shocked and happy we came back a second time, especially considering the conditions and circumstances we left in.
When we arrived in Seoul SK, it was late and we were exhausted. We had missed all the busses and trains to our home town, so we had to stay in a hotel. I will post some pictures of it because it was REALLY nice. After getting up extremely early, we caught the first KTX train (also known as the Bullet train) to Gyeongju. What is normally a 5 hour bus ride ended up being a 2 hour ride going up to 200 miles an hour on the train. IT WAS AWESOME. I took lots of pictures and videos to make a little movie about it. This is one of many projects I keep procrastinating on
From the KTX train station you would think normal travelers would go home and get to settle in before reporting for work....... I guess we didn't learn that lesson the first time we arrived because once again we hit the ground running. Ha, 'running' is so wildly exaggerated because we looked like the walking dead, ALL of our luggage dragged behind us, heading for Matt's office and his waiting classes. With cheeks red from embarrassment, a mountain of luggage around me, I sat at Matt's desk repeatedly explaining to everyone that 'Yes, we are back' and 'We literally just arrived'. I should have said... 'yeah, we got back a few days ago, but I am so use to have my truck load of luggage with me that I just carry it around with me everywhere now.'
Miserable and tired, I thanked my lucky stars that Matt only had to work 4 or 5 hours before I could blissfully pour my butt into bed....... well, not a bed..... a hard mat on a hard floor. AAAHHHH Welcome to Korea!!!

Since then SOOO much has happened. We have been to several cities, made lots of new friends, experienced Korean bath House (me of course), had our Birthdays, went to a Korean movie theater to see an English movie with Korean subtitles, ate all kinds of food such as whale (very disgusting), and most importantly, BOUGHT A REAL FREAKING BED!!!  Cue the angle choir- aaaahhhhhhhhhhhh

I really like it here. The bath house was a little awkward at first, but man was it nice. They really  have a smart thing going there. There are 5-6 different pools of various temperatures, dry and wet saunas, and lots of areas for scrubbing/washing. One of the pools is full of green tea.... my favorite. Cleanliness is very important here  and they take it very seriously. Snubbing and exfoliating is extremely important. Because there is no sense of modesty or embarrassment with the concept of bath houses, nudity is so normal and accepted in this area that it never seems weird. After a while, I really enjoyed the experience and never felt awkward at all.  It's so ingrained in the culture and atmosphere that it makes you feel relaxed and unconcerned about nudity. I have never felt this way when i went to a western spa in the  states. We (my BF and i) were there for about 2 hours, and I never felt more indulged, relaxed, and of course.... clean.        


We really enjoyed our Birthdays here..... or at least I did. Matt did a great job in making mine special. We went traveling in a near by large city that is so nice. Matt found a huge electronic store that he got so excited about. Poor guy..... he wants a gaming PC here so bad, but computers are VERY expensive here. For his birthday we explored our downtown and went to the movies (he wanted to see the new James Bond movie) Also, finally we can have drip coffee once again. I got Matt a coffee pot and A LOT of coffee :) I think he is happier now   lol.
Lately, we have also had some great Korean meals with friends. I'll try to post some pictures for yea. I am still learning all the Korean terms for food here. Basically though, restaurants specialize in a certain meat and certain cut of that meat, so it is very specific when you choose a restaurant. Matt doesn't have very many options, but he seems to be fine with it. All the meals are very focused on meat, and little side dishes are shared to provide veggies and other things. Each table comes with a little grill in front of you, and you cook the meat how ever you like at your table. It's very fast, and different. Matt is so funny, he says, 'Why are we paying for a meal if we are still doing all the work cooking it" Bless his heart, he misses out on the best part....the meat here is so freaking good! It's different, but it's totally worth it.

I am still going to Yoga...... when I can get my butt out of bed. Oh, did I mention I have a REAL BED? Yoga is so refreshing here, and afterwards, I sit with my girls at our local coffee shop....... all afternoon. My God this whole not working things is freaking amazing. I have been knitting my heart out lately too. I have one girlfriend who has become my recent student, and I have even been hired to knit some items for Halloween Costumes. I have found not one, not two, but THREE yarn shops in my town!
With my girlfriends, yoga, real coffee, yarn shops, bath houses, a REAL  Bed, and of course my honey bun, life is so nice right now.
I wonder what I will be writing in 3 weeks when i start work.......

Week 3 
Carbs, Sugar, and beer...... the Korean diet

Week 3 is going well so far. Every week is easier and easier, though still difficult at times. So far this week I have gone to a Hoff (Pub), gone hiking over mountains, tried kem-chi again (still horrible), walked downtown, and ate at McDonalds.
Hiking is so beautiful here. What is even more amazing is what you find at the top! Yes, Yes, the view is breath taking, but just incase your not breathing hard enough, they put exercise equipment up there!!! No joke, I wish I remembered to take a picture of it, cause it's hilarious. They have a weight bench, a bench that slants upward for sit-ups, and other things. They even had hula-hoops there (Emily, you would be proud)!!

Anyway, Tuesday after yoga my friend Sarah and I were going to go swimming at  a local pool house. These are hard to find, but for 6,500won (approx 6$) you can go swimming. Even after Sarah explained to me that there is little modesty here and everyone is expected to shower before and after in community showers (gender appropriate of course), I still agree to go. She warned me that everyone would be staring, but that's just because Americans Shave/trim (whatever) areas, and Korean women do not...... at all...... Huummmm I am not to sure about this idea now. I learned that at least my tankini is acceptable swimming attire though. Then, right  before we walk in she says 'Oh, do you have a head cap for swimming"? No, not something we normally wear right???? Well, it is mandatory that everyone, no matter where you are swimming,  wear a swim cap. Since that was going to cost more money, Sarah asked if I would like to walk downtown instead... at this point.... Hell yea!!!!
Off to downtown we walk with my modesty in tacked. We walked A LOT....miles, and miles. A 7 month pregnant woman just walked my butt off and she isn't even breathing hard. For an American, I didn't think I was in that bad of shape till I came here. Back on topic  now!!! Downtown is really cool. Matt would hate it! Here is where the affordable shopping is, but you still have to be very clever. We went to McDonalds, which was very much the same. However, the lack of Diet Coke crisis that Matt blogs about, extends here as well. NOOOOOO!

Speaking f eating, I am already getting tired of the Korean options here. Everything lately has been high in Carbs, sugar, and at night, everyone just wants to drink beer. It's like I am in college again. These Koreans may be starting to eat more unhealthy western style foods, but if they keep climbing mountains to get to exercise machines, I guess they can eat and drink whatever the hell they want. I think Matt is on to something here.... they are definitely like Klingons..... just much smaller and walk A LOT!

Pictures from Friday, sept 7 

Our train ride from Ulsan back home to Gyeongju South Korea.