Lori J

My first weekend in seoul was great. Friday night, i met up with michele's friend heather from montreal. it was great to see a familiar face and she told me a ton about life in seoul. I've already called her 3 times for directions and advise, so she's a great resource here. Saturday, 2 of my friends from last year came to visit me. we took subways and buses all over seoul to explore and then hit the bars at night . today was amazing and strange. we found a place called Fish Dr Cafe. Get this.. it's a cafe and then you get 15 minutes with your feet in a spa full of flesh nibbling fish. It's like a pedicure and it felt sooo strange! it really tickled and was a bit creepy but really fun. seoul is incredibly different than my city last year, especially my neighborhood . I had never been to this area before and i really like it. It's called Gangnam, which means 'south of the ( Han ) river". It's the richest area of seoul, so my students have all traveled and lived abroad and their parents speak english. Near my house, there is every high end shop like prada, armani, BMW cars.. around my place, there are tons of trees and expensive apartment buildings. there are endless cafes, international restaurants, shops.

If i catch a bus for 10 minutes, i get to an area that seems to be the best place i've found in korea. tons to do and see, even a great taco restaurant and my favorite clothing store American Apparel. the people here are very cosmopolitan-- busy, trendy, self-absorbed. It's like being in LA or NYC because there are so many people that it's actually hard to meet people. there are so many westerners here that nobody even bats and eye at eachother.

today I bought at great pair of running shoes and i'll look for a gym this week. it would be nice to work about before i teach.