Seoul!!!

 Well this week was definitely better than last week. Mainly because I had a three day weekend and I got to have an adventure!
Actually things are turning around at work as well. The Spring Term is over with and we just had our first day of Summer term. Along with a new term, the Hagwon surprised us English teachers with an unexpected present. They upgraded our plans for our cell phones. This means that I have evolved from my flip phone days to the smart phone era. It is so awesome, you can put games and music on your phone and I have already downloaded the complete scriptures onto my phone which means I don't have to keep forgetting my bible when I go to church! It is awesome!! This phone is a big adjustment but I am enjoying it.
This weekend was a roller coaster of a weekend. I felt good to go somewhere and get away from Masan but there were a few activities that I wish didn't happen or the fact that I had to deal with them did not make me like the trip.
I went with my English teacher buddies to Seoul, the capitol of South Korea and supposedly the best place to visit here. It was Bhudda's Birthday on Monday so we had it off and we were planning to spend the whole weekend in Seoul. Most of the group wanted to stay in Jinjabongs (this is a public bathhouse) I personally didn't want to sleep in a room crammed with a bunch of strangers on the floor, so I said I was going to find a motel and sleep there. That was a mistake because the cheapest motel we found was a hook-up motel and I didn't sleep well because of how dirty the place was. But I am getting ahead of myself.
We left Saturday morning and the first thing we did was visit a War Memorial Museum. There were old bomber planes and helicopters and tanks and missiles. We were able to go into the larger planes and see what it was like during each of the eras of war. Inside the museum I got to brush up on Korean war history, mainly when the North divided from the South. The design of the Museum was really ingenious because they created an area where it felt like you were crossing the 39 divide and enter into North Korea.

After the museum we headed over to Itaewon, this was the area of town that is the highest concentration of foreigners. We met up with the other teachers from Masan and found the nasty Love Motel. The rest of the night I followed my friends around to the bars and basically spent the evening wishing I had done something else. It was m first time I have ever been to a bar and I hope that was my last, but with the friends I got, it probably wont be. At one of the bars, one of my friends accidentally dumped her full cup of beer on me. Right after that I decided that I was going back to Masan the next day.
The night I didn't sleep well for the fact that I was creeped out about my room and I didn't want to touch the sheets because they hadn't been washed in a while and the walls were paper thin. The whole place was racy. And the area had not the most tasteful people around.
Anyways the next day I met a few of my friends and we visited a few fun locations. The first area we went to was called Namdaemun Market, it was awesome to see all of those little booths and the festive life happening all around you. Picture:

Then we headed over to Bukchon Village which was supposed to be a small traditional style village in the center of Big city Seoul. It took  a  while to find it and we did run into a really cool Buddhist temple on the way there. The Buddhist people had covered the courtyard and surrounding areas with festive lamps celebrating Buddha's Birthday. The effect of all the multicolored lamps above your head was almost magical. In one area they created a roof of lamps around a tree which made you think that the tree itself had lamps instead of leaves. Pictures below :)

We finally found the Bukchon Village and walked around that area for a while but there wasn't that much to see so we headed over to a Palace. Discovering we had to pay to get in and the line there could have competed with the line for the Eiffel Tower. We decided that we would try another weekend to go into the Palace. Seoul isn't that far away. It was around that time that I said I was planning on going home. Amazingly enough two others decided to join me in that proclamation and after a quick icecream break and a little shopping we got on a bus to go back to Masan. Thankfully I slept most of the 5 hours. It felt really good sleeping in my own bed and I definitely washed every piece of clothing that touched that nasty room.

It really was a fun weekend though at Seoul, but it finished well because on Monday I spent the day with my ward in a Sports Day like activity. I played a game of ultimate Frisbee and got chosen to be the follow-up soccer penalty shot taker..person. And kicked a few people while jumping rope. That was an accident but now I am labeled as dangerous. I only kicked the lady in the knee and shins twice and elbowed her forehead once.... yeah. oops, she was still laughing as I was apologizing though.
Pictures provided :)

(This is a picture after I hurt that lady...she was laughing..really)
Overall a really nice week with its ups and downs.