Courtney is here!

Friday night, I rushed home from work and headed to Seoul to check into the hotel. After searching for Hotel M for what seemed like a long time (but probably only 5 min- I was worrying I wouldn’t make it to the airport on time), I decided to go into Dunkin’ Donuts and ask for some assistance. On a sidenote, the workers at Dunkin’ are so friendly! Back in early days (I say that like I am a Korean expert now), Jaime and I were lost in Itaewon and it was a Dunkin’ Donuts lady who helped us out. I think these ladies deserve a raise. Regardless, I rushed from the hotel to the shuttle bus and I was off to Incheon Airport. I arrived three minutes after Courtney had come through the gate. I saw her blonde hair and red jacket and I was so happy. She was easy to pick out among the crowds of Asians- she flew in from Narita on a stopover. While I was sitting there waiting for her as she went to the bathroom, I realized how awesome airports are. Well the arrivals section anyway. Everyone is so happy and eyes are lit up all over the place. It gave me the chills.

Court and I talked about what is going on with us and caught up on the bus- which was so nice for two reasons; obviously she’s my bestest and seeing her was just awesome, and second, we didn’t notice the time it was taking to get back to the hotel. That night we went to a bar down the road and saw many a businessman stumbling on the road thanks to the Friday night soju. We were in the financial district. The next day we decided to go to 63 Building. Here there was an aquarium, an IMAX and a Sky Art Museum. Now, I know no one will believe me, but I had NO idea that the museum was a Hello Kitty museum. Honestly. I am pretty much in love with Hello Kitty and the fact that she occupied this whole museum was amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and bought a souvenir on the way out. Gotta love being a tourist. We then watched an IMAX movie on the Alps, which was pretty intense. I was truly enthralled and made the discovery that I could never ever do anything like what those people who climb the Alps do. I also learned that IMAX is short form for eye maximum. A nice little piece of trivia for you. I wonder if I could take the kids to 63 Building on a field trip! The aquarium definitely has educational merit, and sea lion shows! Something to look into.
After 63 Building, we went to Seoul City Hall to do the bus tour. We really shouldn’t have wasted time or money on this bus, as doing what we wanted would have been cheaper and there was little to no commentary throughout the ride. We stopped in Itaewon and got some Western food (Court is not brave enough to go Korean yet- but she has promised me a night to feed her any Korean food I want, as long as she is blindfolded. Excellent) and I showed her some highlights on the Soul map so she can get her bearings since I will be in school all week and unable to accompany her on her day trips. We ventured into Namdaemun Market at night and got some nice little trinkets and got to see the ladies frying up their grubs (most disgusting smell ever). We planned to go to Everland and Caribbean Bay today, but we decided to do Everland one night this week instead. We were both pretty tired and agreed that Everland deserves energy and full attention. I have completed all my lesson plans for the week so I can enjoy the time she has here!
I am also planning the Halloween Party we are having for the kids- any suggestions would be wonderful! I can’t wait to start making decorations and planning games. Maybe I should consider a career in event planning when I am done here. We’ll see how the party goes first.