Weekend Blitz

TK was here this past weekend, which made for a lot of great hangout times, and a LOT of running around and going out and enjoying the company of many great friends.

Thursday TK got here and a bunch of us went out for galbi dinner.
Friday we went to the Jimjillbang (bath house) and TK was let in on the secret of Korea. I'm still not sure how he really felt about being around a few hundred naked Koreans and hanging out in saunas all night. But hey, you've gotta experience culture right?
Saturday was my long awaited gathering in Chang dong and we all had a pretty good time. We had loads of wine and cheese and created what looked like a fairly mature party, that is, until TK started making a war zone with the appetizers. He created a battlefield with gummi bears, toothpicks, cheese and crackers. It was pretty funny. Me, Rob and Matt.

Sunday was a rude awakening after spending all night hanging out till all hours of the morning me, TK, Jamie and Jennica made our trip to the Demilitarized Zone, the North/South Korean border. It was pretty cool to see, but also the weather was deathly cold. I just wished that I had dressed a whole heck of a lot warmer. It was cold, but also clear, so we had a really great view of the North Korean villages, albeit that they were "propoganda villages" built by good 'ol Kim Jeong Il to let South Koreans see their "prosperity".

Hey Mr Kim, you're not fooling anyone.

According to the South Korean soldier who debriefed us, the buildings in the propoganda villages don't even have floors and were never intended to be inhabited by people.

Good job Kim Jeong, that's why your people are starving to death! Concede already!

The above pictures are some shots taken from the DMZ. The last one is my favorite, the North Korean mountains as taken from my moving tour guides van and from behind much barbed wire.

Anyway, after Sunday's tour, TK and I braved more cold weather to shop in Dongdaemun so that he could bring back copius amounts of faux Puma shoes. When his suitcase was packed to go home, he could have been bringing them back to sell. Ebay anyone?

It was a good time, but I'm utterly exhausted at this point and today's usual six class in a row day was a struggle for sure. All I need to do now is catch up on a little bit of sleep before round two when Kiki gets here on December 24th. Can't wait!