Are those ants on the kitchen counter?

Today is our last day in Korea. I can't believe that we have only been here for 2 weeks, we've seen so much!

The last three days have been pretty low key. Not sure if we told everyone, but Mike's brother, Paul and his roommate let us stay in their spare room. Very generous of them, but it did come at a price. Laurel, we can never complain about Rog, Mike, and Jamie's old house ever again. Talk about a bachelors pad! The inch of hairs and something that can only be defined as "gunk" on the bathroom counter, the grubby floors, dirty dishes and the garbage that had accumulated and smelled.... apparently a balcony is the equivalent to a garbage dumpster. After we got back from the DMZ, Paul had to return to his teaching job, so after a doctor's vist (no Mike didn't break anything - I had a throat infection) and a hair cut, Mike and I went to a nearby department store, bought brooms, mops, and cleaning supplies and for the next 3 hours scrubbed the aparment down. The boys were very surprised that the apartment could be cleaned, apparantley they thought the grung was permanent. And yes, those were little ants on the counter.

On Saturday we went to a Korean Theater, where we watched amazing performances of traditional dance, singing, and music (both classical instruments and drum dances). We weren't. allowed to take pictures of the show, but check out the link to Chongdong Theater to see examples of the performances. The most spectacular part of the show was called the Samgo - mu, where 7 women are lined up and beat 3 drums while doing dancing movements in sync.

After the show we were starving and went for Gal-Be (beef cooked in front of us that we wrap in a leaf with garlic, sauce and onions (not my choice) ). Sweet potatoes were being cooked in the coals of the fires, and by the time we retreived them they were a little burned. Apparantley Mike and Paul were making quite the spectacle of themselves, b/c our Korean neighbour at the next table was laughing at their efforts to eat the potatoes. He then proceeded to show us how to eat the meal, gave us each a shot of Soju, and fed us from his chopsticks. Every time he wanted to show us how to eat something correctly, he would say "hey you" and give us an example. He was hilarious and really made our night.

Yesterday and today have been devoted to laundry (there is only a washer and is located on the balcony), which because of the freezing weather has been quite the challenge. Mike created an ad hoc clothes line in our room. Well take a look for yourself. (we spent so much time cleaning the rest of the house, we forgot about our own room!).

Yesterday, we took Paul out for his birthday dinner. We were trying to go to the "The Outback", yes western food, but ended up at an Italian restaurant instead. Food was actually really good!


Overall, Seoul has been a great adventure. It was great to see Paul, meet Kate and experience the amazing cultural history of the country. We leave tomorrow for Singapore, where the temperature has been 30 Deg C, so we're going to SIZZLE! Can't wait...

Miss you,
Kendra & Mike


Just in case you forgot what we looked like...