Sunday, July 09, 2006

i've got seoul but i'm not a soldier

this past weekend was my last weekend in seoul. alisun, salsa, sylvia (the new south african teacher at my school, rika's friend from home) planned on a day trip: get up saturday, head to insadong, get some last minute gifts (well, last minute for al and me who are leaving within a week of each other) and souvenirs, check out a few museums, and then go to songtan, which apparently has a huge outdoor market.

the first two parts of the plan went over well. we got to insadong at around 1 or so, did some shopping, and hopped on a bus going to the gana art museum, where there were some great photography exhibits. we had dinner across the street at monet, a nice little italian cafe/wine bar. at that point salsa decided to head back and al, sylvia, and i were going to try to get to songtan. long story short, the metro took longer than we thought (actually, it took as long as i'd anticipated, i just didn't really pay attention to the time we left, therefore it was just poor planning.) we were still on the metro at 9 pm and decided we're be in a race now to actually get an express bus back to daejeon. so, we hopped off the subway and headed back to suwon to get an express bus from there. by then it was after ten and the last bus had left long ago. so, we got tickets to kangnam, seoul, and though maybe we'd make the last ktx train back. we didn't. we didn't get to seoul until 11:45 or so, so we called it a night and shacked up in a motel. i would've been fine with the plans, i just felt irresponsible that a certain kim-man was waiting for me to return home.

anyway, we got up at 9 this morning and headed back to daejeon. went to our respective places and showered, and then the three of them came over to my place where we ordered pizza and watched transamerica (highly recommended). overall, an enjoyable weekend, but i was still disappointed that i 1) didn't make it back that same day. guess it was just sort of a mental goal to say "hey! i CAN just do a day-trip in seoul and be successful!" and 2) didn't get the airline-approved dog carrier that i was hoping to find in songtan.

so, on my to-do list for tomorrow and tuesday:
1) go to the post office and get the biggest post-office approved boxes i can find
2) come back and pack up all things that can be mailed home now
3) maybe run to e-mart or other department stores to see if they have any dog carriers there. i have to find it soon to let the airline know exactly how much space i will be taking up. if anyone is reading this and knows where i can find one, please let me know!
4) take mr. kim to the vet and get his shots updated and ask about getting his certificate of health
5) mail boxes (see no. 1) home

i have the feeling this remaining time is really going to FLY by, judging how fast june went by. also, july 17th is another holiday. assssahhh!

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