Merry Christmas!!

So Christmas is this Sunday. Funny thing is, I feel no sadness about missing it. Koreans don't really celebrate Christmas, so there are few signals that its even coming. I have made plans with some Americans and Canadians on Christmas Eve. As for Christmas, who knows what I will end up doing, maybe set up a date or something, and just relax.

I was going to send out Christmas cards, but I waited too long and I'm lazy ;P so this is my card. Thank you to everyone who visits my site, everyone who keeps in contact with email, and special thanks to my mom and dad, and Nancy and Gary for the packages sent. They are all being put to good use.

Then New Years is around the corner and so is my birthday! New Years isn't really a big deal, but I'll make sure to go out, and go out for my birthday as well. There is no shortage of people to talk to here and meet with. Koreans are so nice, and they try hard to speak English with me. And the girls are not bad either ;-)

King is Back

That was the slogan for Carl Cox, world famous DJ who played in Seoul Dec 10. I made the journey with a fellow foreigner from Busan. I rode on the KTX (Korean Train Express), which took 2hrs 40min for the travel. The train reaches speeds up to 300km/h. It was nice and fast, compared to a regular train which is 4-5 hrs.

Seoul is much bigger than Busan, 13 million v. 3.7 million. While Busan has 3 metros, Seoul has 11(?) but some of the lines split, so kinda hard to count. The show was held at the Sheraton WalkerHill in Hongdae. Very posh, and the ballroom was a great place. Never too crowded, and great acoustics. Carl Cox played for 3 1/2 hrs, and I danced the whole time. I was very tired at the end of the night. For anyone familiar with his style or listened to his CDs, you know what the music was like. But his presence was strong, he was moving to the music the whole time. Most DJs use headphones to cue up the music for the next track. The great thing about Cox was that he didn't even use headphones for at least the first 10 songs! My pictures do little justice here, its the kind of thing you have to see live.

There were also a few Asian DJs and a traditional Korean drummer, with all kinds of lighting effects and fireworks. Interesting artist, though not for everyone. No one really danced to it, but it was unique. For more info, wait a few weeks and check out carlcox.com or trustthedj.com. Should be some info for anyone interested :-)

Jangsan

Here are some pictures of the hike. The girl in the grey sweater/maroon coat seemed to be in very good shape, so I found myself wanting to race her and beat her. Apparently I still have a somewhat competitive side. But she got too far ahead, and I started getting sweaty and tired, so I gave up lol. But I felt so good when I was up there, challenging myself to keep going and rest later. It makes me want to go hiking every weekend. I can see why Koreans love it so much. Also there are many mountains to hike. In one picture you get a good idea of how the cityscape looks; many high-rise apartment buildings clustered together.

What it feels like...

Sorry its been a while since I've posted. Last weekend I went with the same group of people I went hikinh with before, and went hiking again. This time a few more people. So for fun that Saturday night me and a few other Koraen guys dressed up like women. Wasn't my idea, but it was different and fun.

Here's a few pics. I thought the makeup was horrid, but they appeased me and said I was attractive. Plus I hadn't shaved, so that made it even better. I'll post pics from the hiking soon.