Aug 8 - 16, 2008

Friday night was happy hour at Oakwood. We went down and played some pool, had sodas, and ate the snacks. Afterwards we watched the Olympics opening ceremony on the big screen in the lounge. Since it was in Korean, the staff interrupted some of it for us. Was interesting to hear things, but having no idea what they were saying.

Sat. we watched the opening ceremony on the armed forces network, so it was in english. Finally new what really was happening.

Sunday had invited the Rantas(Colleen and Tim) to go on an Oakwood outing to a show called Jump. It is a non-verbal show based on Taekwondo. It was a good show and we enjoyed it. They picked Tim out of the audience to have a part in the show. He did a wonderful job. We ate at On The Border before we went to the show. After the show the bus stopped at the Cheonggyecheon stream and saw the burial stones for an emperors mistress. The emperors son removed them and used them for a bridge. (The picture above and below shows some of the stones) Then we ate at a Korean restaurant and had ginsing chicken soup.

On Monday Mike was to take the secretaries to lunch. But one went on vacation, and the other had plans he didn't find out about until later. But he invited me to go along, so three of us (Mike, Alisha, and me) went to Pho Hoa (Vietnamese Restaurant) It was good, but way too much food. Afterwards we stopped at Paris Croissant and had something called Flaked Ice with red beans and fruit. Wasn't sure how I would like the beans (since I am not a vegetable eater), but it was great.

Tuesday was lunch to say goodbye to some at Oakwood and welcome to some others. We ate at Marco Polo a restaurant on the 52nd floor in the coex. It was great, we had a private room and had a great view. We could see the learning courses for buses and taxis. There were even some driving on the course while we watched from above.

Wed was flower decorating class. I swam before the class, for my first day of exercise for the week. We made an arrangement, and the teacher told us where to get more flowers to make another and how much each bunch should cost - anywhere from 1 - 2.50 US dollars. We will see if I make another or not. I think the teacher has gotten use to us westerners. We do are own thing and don't follow directions very well. She usually tells me I didn't do it right - it is bad, but this time she said fine. But she did say it was european design, so probably more leaway in doing it. Oriental is very exact I have found out.

Thursday Mike went fishing with his work group after lunch and got home after midnight. So he had a long day. They had sushi on the boat for a snack and cooked the rest of the catch when they got back to shore for dinner. Had fish head and their insides made into a soup. Not sure anyone ate that. Mike didn't, at least he said he didn't. I spent the day with Colleen and we went shopping and then played Sequence until Tim came home. I was lucky and beat her. We played two games with Tim and Colleen won one and Tim the other. After that we went to Tony Romas and had their ribs. They were delicious.

Friday was Korean Independence Day. So no work for Mike. But he got a call from Paul who is his boss and works for Borealis. (Mike is working for Borouge the other partner in the joint venture). He wanted to take us to dinner. I suggested Marco Polo since he hasn't seen much of Korea. It was lovely and they had fire works on the water which we watched during our meal. We got back from dinner around 11 pm. We watched some Olympics on the AFN (armed forces network) then went to bed.

Sat. I got up for the hotel's Korean class, only to find out it was canceled. But they didn't tell me. So we went to the gym and swam. Mike walked and kicked in the pool, while I swam. Then for a treat we went to Paris Croissant and split a flaked ice with just fruit, no red beans. Was really good. I cooked dinner and we watched the Olympics. We see a lot of other sports that you don't see much of in the states. I have seen archery, table tennis, judo, weight lifting, badminton and anything else the Koreans are playing in. It is interesting because I recognize words like smash and swish. You can tell when they are excited, but most of the time have no clue why.

That is all for this week. Tomorrow we are meeting the Rantas at Butterfinger Pancake for an american breakfast and then they will come here and we will play some games.