Yesterday (2nd day) Continued and Today (more coming later)

Today (Wed) was a busy day! I met Jay at City Hall. Jay was my seatmate on the plane and after 13 hours sitting next to each other got to know each other some. He is a native Korean, but has been living and working on an island in the Caribbean as a chef in a Hyatt Hotel. He is in Korea on a short vacation. We walked to Gyeongbuk Palace which was only a few blocks from the subway stop we met at. Along the way we passed some statues/monuments of a few important Koreans and took pictures there. When we were at Gyeongbok Palace, Jay pointed out that we could see the Blue House-where the President of Korea lives! After we walked around the palace grounds for a bit, we went to Myeongdong, a very popular shopping area-full of lots of young people. We went to a famous Korean Noodle Restaurant-we even had to wait for about 10-15 minutes! After lunch we walked over to Cheongycheon, one of my favorite spots in Seoul. Cheongycheon is a stream that has been cleaned up and built up in the last few years. It used to be really dirty, but now it is beautiful and peaceful. 

Then, it was off on my own to get to Hwa Sun's! I couldn't remember which entrance to the giant apartment building was hers and went to the wrong one, but the doorman let me call her and then took me to the right entrance. When I went to get the elevator I saw it was coming down and when the doors opened...there was Jaebin!! Jaebin is getting sooo big!!! He will be turning 7 in April-I cannot believe it! We left almost right away because Jaebin had a belt test for Taekwondo. He is a 2nd level red belt now! We returned to their apartment and played games and visited. Then we met Hwa Sun's husband at a Chinese restaurant near their home. It was pretty good-we ordered sweet and sour pork and I got fried rice as a side. Then they drove me back to the guesthouse. 

TODAY:

Right now it is 6:30 AM, but I have been having trouble sleeping. The past 2 nights I have been waking up a lot but could fall back asleep. No such luck today. Later I am going to meet up with Hwa Sun and Jaebin again! :)

At Gyeongbok Palace...6th time here! :)

Noodle place in Myeongdong

Tossing a coin and making a wish at Cheongyecheon!

Jaebin (front right) and his best friend (back left) doing their test

Paris Baguette for dessert...LOVE THIS KID!!!

 Hwa Sun, Mr. Ryu, Jaebin and "Maumay" the dog

(Thursday evening)
Today was fun! Hwa Sun picked me up at a subway stop near their home and we went on to the English Children's Library in the Itaewon area. After that we returned to their apartment for Kimbap for lunch. :) Then we went to Jaebin's violin lesson. After his lesson, Jaebin went to practice reading (Korean) with his friend and he is having a sleepover there! Hwa Sun and I went to a mall so she could get a piece on Jaebin's violin fixed. Now I am back relaxing at the guesthouse. The only plan for tomorrow is dinner with the Kim family! :)

Jaebin in the library

Main part of the library

Jaebin at violin lesson!