Seasons Greetings

First of all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, to all my friends and family back home and abroad! Christmas isn't really the same here as in US, but I was able to take a little trip to Seoul for 3 days. On the 22nd I went up to Seoul and met a Korean friend I had chatted with a few times online. She left for Canada to study a semester on Christmas day, so this was the first and perhaps only time we will meet. Anyway she was gracious enough to show me around a bit and keep good company. I went shopping for shoes and actually found some in my size!! As I wear size 14 I have problems finding the right size (as do most of my family). But there was one place that had all 14s it seemed. I tried on about 8 pairs before I found the best ones. They still didn' fit that great (no arch support) but I bought them, Steve Maddens, for about $80. The guy said this is the only store in Korea with shoes this big, and he's probably right. Nothing in Busan at all, unless I want to wear something cheap and ugly that falls apart in a few weeks. Then across the street we found a nice sweater for $15.

Next day I ran into a Canadian friend from Busan and his wife, and we strolled about for the day; feeble attempts at shopping and then some ice skating in a huge shopping mall. I'm not very good at that, but I managed to not fall at all. My friend's wife was terrified and fell once, but she mainly hung onto the wall, pretty funny. Later we met up with more of his friends, and mutual acquaintances of mine as well; one more from Busan and one from another city. We had some dinner with a few Korean people, then went to drink some traditional Korean alcohol, and then to a foreign bar (not Koreans). I was okay except for the soju at dinner, and it really hurt my stomach the whole next day. If you ever get to drink soju, you have been forewarned! Its cheap and not well diluted.

Sunday I came back to Busan and just relaxed much of the day and night. On Christmas day I met a Korean girl (not gf, just a date, so far) and we saw the new 007. In my opinion, it was a nice change, but also a bit dragged out during the lovey-dovey part. I liked the fact that there were few cheeky lines and this guy was more aggressive; interesting to see how the next one goes, because his accent at the very end changed to sound more like the other Bonds.

All in all I didn't feel homesick, had a good time with friends, and got a few days away from Busan; but Seoul was a madhouse of people! Hope you all enjoy your holiday season, keep those happy thoughts coming :-)