Tuesday, February 20, 2007

paul has arrived......

he has been here since thursday night and things have been great since he arrived. the night he got here was a bit wild, but we finally made it home. the last airport bus to yonhi-dong left the airport at 10:30pm and we saw it pull away. i did not realize at the time of seeing the bus it was the last one, but soon after did when the guy said "finished, no more bus". then i kind of internally got a bit nervous as i was not sure how we were going to get home. a taxi all the way to the school is almost 50,000 and i did not have that much cash on me. so i thought quickly and realized that there was another bus leaving for itaewon, which is area close to the base. a taxi from there is only 10,000 or so. we got on the last bus to itaewon at five until eleven. it took us a while but we finally made it home. whew!!!!

friday we went back to itaewon for lunch. we had dolsot bebimbap which is rice, veg, and some meat with an egg on top in a very hot stone bowl that cooks it all when you get it. it is super yummy and one of paul's favorites. then we walked all around itaewon. i showed him all my favorite places---koreana furniture, eden pottery, joy jewelry. then we made our way to sinchon where we had a starbucks and made a quick trip to grand mart (the grocery store).

saturday we were kind of bums and ordered pizza in. paul had to work and i needed to complete some school work as well. we just hung out at my apartment and then later in the evening when down to sinchon for dinner. we ate at omuto tomato which is a fusion kind of place that serves omurice. it is like a giant egg omelette shell filled with rice and then topped with all kinds of stuff on top. i had one with a tomatoey sauce with a pork cutlet on it. it was tasty. paul had one with cream sauce, sweet potatoes and pumpkin on it. he was not a huge fan and neither was i after tasting it. after dinner we went to starbucks again.....surprise, surprise! it was good although i quickly figured out that i was drinking too much caffeine as i was not sleeping well.

sunday we went to church and then went to insadong for lunch and to piddle around. jen came with which was fun! we had lunch at a korean place and we all had dolsot bebimbap again. this place was not as good as the place in itaewon, but it was ok. paul tried some korean taffy like stuff and also a sausage like thing on a stick. we just looked in the shops and watched the people. it was good. we ended up at the starbucks in insadong. this is the only one in the world that has starbucks written in korean on the outside of the building. we sat for hours just talking and visiting. we had three young korean ladies about our age ask us to read a page and a half of questions to them in english. they are interviewing to become flight attendants for asiana airlines and needed to listen to the english for practice. it was fun and we enjoyed helping. after they treated us to muffins. so sweet! we then went back to the apartment and jen came with. we had quesadillas for dinner and jen and i faced off at scrabble while paul kind of worked. it was fun! jen and i thought the game was over a hundred times it seemed and then all of a sudden we would work out a word to build more off of. we were really kind of playing together versus against each other. we had fun and laughed lots. i think we were even entertaining paul at some points. :)

monday paul was all about walking around and seeing what we would see. to be honest, i wasn't really thrilled with the idea, but went along. we walked down the front hill into yonhi-dong and walked around. then we took a taxi to sinchon. paul had his computer with him so he could work. the mission was to a find a coffee place with free internet. we tried the coffee bean, but no luck. walked a bit further to a new place called caribou coffee. yes......free internet! i have had coffee from this place in an airport in the states so i was excited. it just opened in the last week or two. then we went to order and paul says, "look they have decaf." i instantly was like where?!?!?! i was beside myself. then i asked if they had decaf espresso.....yes! oh my goodness, i felt as if i had hit the jackpot! crazy! so i ordered a latte that was decaf! so exciting! paul and i sat for hours---he working and i was reading. i was reading the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe, the bible, and the marriage book that paul and i got for christmas. he worked and i read. it was a great afternoon. later i got another coffee and this time i got a marshmalllow latte......YUMMY! i am in heaven! paul and i ate sushi at niko niko for a late afternoon snack and then took a taxi home. we went to the mills' for dinner and had a fun time. we played rummikub with the kids. then we ate dinner and after dinner we played my new game, rat-a-tat cat, that i got for christmas. the kids loved it! they went to bed and we played a game called articulate for kids with david (dad), arthur, paul and i. the funny part is that it is like catchphrase, but it is in made in england. so some of the phrases we did not get. it was fun though and we laughed a lot. after arthu went to sleep, paul and i stayed and visited with jane and david for hours. it was really wonderful!

today paul and i went to lunch at kraze burger and are back at caribou coffee. he is working and i am blogging. i am enjoying another DECAF marshmallow latte which is just lovely! the weather has been absolutely fantastic since paul got here! it is sunny and currently the temperature is 52 degrees. paul and i are really enjoying the weather. :)

1 comment:

Kelly Walker said...

Mandy-lu,
I'm glad you're back to blogging! I miss you so much and hearing about your days makes you feel a little bit closer.
love you,
Kelly