What the Dueck?

Well, as many of you may have heard, Kevin Dueck has joined us out here to chill, work, and play for a year in Korea. He's actually really close, only two subway stops away, which works out to about 10 minutes or less. Anyway, it's working out well so far, we've taken him to see a few things, maybe even more than we should at this point, being that he's so tired and all.

Well, Saturday started after we found Kevin and took him to Itaewon to attempt to pick up our China tickets (by the way, I'm going to China in T minus three days!). Sadly, our tickets were not ready for pick up, but we were able to show Kevin the "western area" of Korea right off the bat. Not an area that I particularly like to frequent, but it's definitely useful for speaking English and such.

After Itaewon, we headed to Yeoido park. Yeoido is a small island located in the middle of the Han River. It's really kinda cool. We found the park that we were looking for which was bascially greenery surrounding a giant plaza. They had a huge blood drive going on, so there was a pretty big concert going on as well. Kevin was pretty overwhelmed and partly bored I think, as Matt, Rob, and I proceeded to discuss season one of Lost (greatest show ever!).

Sunday we headed to World Cup Stadium for a soccer game between FC Seoul and Suwon. It was pretty awesome. The stadium itself was a sight to see. It was built for the 2002 World Cup hosted by Korea and Japan. I most definitely watched a few games on TV from home, and the idea of Korea and Japan "co hosting" the biggest World Soccer tournament didn't seem like a big deal. Until I began work in Korea. The two countries don't get along. I mean, even from the age of about 6 kids in Korea are bred to hate the Japanese. The hatred goes way back, so attempting to get along for a month or two for the sake of soccer must have been difficult.

Anyway, back to my weekend. So we went to the stadium with a bunch of English teachers and caught what turned out to be a tie game. Suwon scored their only goal in the last few minutes of the game, and really, who likes a tie in soccer? Not me. But, I'm definitely going to be checking out a couple more games in the future. Being there with the crazy fans singing soccer songs and all dressed in team colours while shooting off loads of fireworks was something I need to do more of.

That aside. China happens in 3 days. What the...? It's kinda strange, but I'm totally excited for what's coming, and that's partly because I don't really know what it is. We have three days planned, and after that it's all up in the air. So it should be fun. As far as I know, we're covering the basics: The Great Wall, The Forbidden Palace, The Temple of Heaven, The Chinese Circus (supposed to be amazing), and not to be left out a dinner of Peking Duck (I'm actually really looking forward to that one!). It should make for a good time. There should be some great stories when I get back so I'll be sure to give you all an update filled with pictures!

Talk to you soon!