Friday, Gyeongbokgung Palace - Jake and I met a couple more of his students, Claire and Jemma, for lunch...we were going to try Mr. Pizza which is popular with Korean women, but there was a long wait, so we had more Korean food...spicy beef with noodles and all the fixings, of course. Claire and Jemma are pre-speak which means they haven't actually taken English speaking classes yet...in fact, they are leaving for a year to learn in New Zealand. After lunch, Ja...

Korean Food - Let's face it, I am not an adventurous eater, some might say a little stuck in my ways when it comes to food...however, I'm proud to say I have embraced Korean cuisine and more or less consumed everything put in front of me...and liked it! I've eaten: kimchi (fermented cabbage or radish), octupus, dried fish, rib stew, rice cake, tofu...granted, some things I've skipped, like cold seaweed soup and squid. I haven't felt hungry very often and enjoye...

Thursday, Myeong-dong - It's Friday and Jake is officially done working until I leave, so I'm trying to keep this up with less downtime! Yesterday we met one of Jake's students, Christine (her English nickname), for lunch in what I have dubbed the Seoul loop...lots of office buildings, financial district, people in suits. When Christine informed us of her choice for lunch Jake was a little worried I wouldn't like it, but the "dried fishy" was actually...

Wednesday, Sinchon - Jake and I got on the subway and ventured to the shopping streets behind Ewha Women's University, a trendy neighborhood where there are four universities and lots of hip young people...I'm hoping to find something unique for Make A Statement which is the day after I return...but no luck here since all the shops are little boutiques that either sell second-hand stuff or custom-made which means one-of-a-kind and not in my size! We had lunch at...

Wednesday, Morning - I feel pretty good for having been up for roughly 24 hours and then sleeping about 5 hours on a yo (probably spelled differently, but that's what it sounds like), which is a pretty thin bed pad on a hard floor...we'll see if this jet lag ever really gets me! I'm sleeping in Jake's "loft" which is a 3 foot space up a ladder which isn't too bad except when you wake up in the middle of the night and have to use the bathroom...which I ...