Getting to know our city.

Tuesday morning we woke up and saw a green patch of trees out our window so we decided to go and explore what we thought to be a city park. Walking about 5 New York blocks to get there we found out that it was a University, one of about 6 in the whole city. It's an agricultural school so there were small gardens through out the campus. It was nice and quiet because all of the student were out because of the holiday. There is a dinosaur research center near the university but was closed, we are going to go back. We heard you can touch the dinosaur fossils there, I know crazy. The university has a nice AstroTurf soccer field where we threw the disc, it was great to be able to run a little bit.
When we got back to the apartment it was time to get down to business. We stopped by the mini-mart to get some cleaning supplies and went to work. We both felt much better after getting all of the counters and cabinets scrubbed down. Still feeling the affects from jet-lag Maria look a nap and Ethan watched soccer(which is on TV most of the time it is pretty awesome). Since we are on the subject I will give you a little TV update. Yes, we have a TV and we have cable. We have about 60 channels, five of those are English style, cnn, and a couple of movie channels. They show a lot of baseball both Korean and American. I have watched a few Yankees games. Hopefully the frighten phills can pull it out and win the wild card, don't want to talk too much sports but a little disappointed in Penn States performance and what was deal with the Eagle uniforms when they played the Lions. Anyway we called our friends Whit and Lindsay and met them at the train station which we can see from the apartment. They have been in Korea for a month now so they know the ropes a little. We walked to a bus stop and tried to figure out which bus to take. The map is all in Korean so you have to know where things are located. After not quite knowing which way to go, "When in doubt take a taxi." Cabs start out at $1.80 and go up after five blocks, it is pretty cheap especially if there are four of you because a bus ride is usually $1 or less per person. They took us downtown which is really only about ten blocks from our apartment. They downtown is a small road that that winds around. Really bright lights and a lot shops and restaurants. They have an outback steakhouse so Mom (Marcia) if you come you can get a steak and a sweet potato. They have a lot of Starbucks around here and most of you know how I feel about that. Whit and Lindsay took us to this great restaurant. It was a traditional Korean restaurant where they have a cast iron bowl full of hot coals and they put it in the middle of the table and put a lid with slots on top. We should have taken a picture, maybe next time. They brought out a plate full of meat (beef...or so we think) and cooked it on the hot lid, it was pretty neat. When Koreans eat they have appetizers whether you want them or not so by the time they bring everything out, the whole table is full of dishes. It was Maria's new favorite restaurant and I think mine too. It was great to hang out with Whit and Lindsay and I know they were happy to have some familiar faces.
Wednesday morning we woke up early and had eggs and toast for breakfast, which is what we have had every morning so far. There is a mountain not very big but it is in the city so Maria and I decide to put our walkin shoes on and go check it out. It is fun going to new parts of the city because you never know what you are going to see. Saw one of the stadiums which looked really nice, I am not sure who plays there but I will keep you posted.
Found out that there is a meteorological center on top of the small mountain but on the other side was hiking trails. It felt wonderful to be in nature again which will probably be our release from the city life. We went by the train station on the way back to pick up a some information on Gwanju. We got a few maps bus routes, city, and province all will be very helpful in our exploring process. My director picked us up and took us to where my school is located. It was about ten minutes away on the north side of town or a least in that direction. The school was really great, it is brand new and very neat and tidy which fits my personality as you all know. All of the classrooms are named after Ivy League Universities in the US. I think I am going to be teaching in Harvard, no big deal. My co-worker and directors husband took us and we rode the bus back to are apartment so that we could figure out the route, I think we got all of the kinks out. My director made us dinner and we ate at school it was so nice of her. Later we found out that her mom cooked all the food, and she heated it up. We got back to the apartment and Maria crashed around 6:00pm and I watched this sport, it is a cross between soccer and volleyball. The net is about 3 feet high and they side volley to spike, really cool. Then mission impossible 3 came on and I fell asleep to that movie. I feel that they should have stopped after the first and defiantly after the second but to have three that's just crazy. We woke up around 12:30 am and went to the PC Bang where I am writing this to you. Hope all is well across that big pond, or as mom said, several big ponds. Sorry if I got a little long winded there but still on sensory overload. Have a great day.