I officially go back to work tomorrow! Wow...the last time I was at work was June 10! I'd say I had a decent holiday. I'm looking forward to a new routine, though I am slightly nervous for the administrative side of things, with my new job. It'll just take me a week or so to adjust, and make sure I'm getting everything done, and done properly. I'll find my groove.
I've had an awesome week! I had the chance to explore my Anyang and spend some more time in Seoul. Anyang is full of parks and greenspace and benches and trees, surrounded by mountains, and bustling with city life. Beomgye and Anyang are the main metro stops here, and in these areas is where all the best shopping, restaurants, and nightlife are. I took a big walk around the city on Thursday afternoon, to get an idea for the layout of the city. Central Park is full of fountains and families, and Hagun Park is shadier. I can't get over all the biking and walking paths, in the parks and along the river. And I'm sure I mentioned it before, but there are exercise machines everywhere. It's great. I really like it here. Next weekend a group of us are going to hike one of the mountains here...!
I joined the gym on Saturday. It's a great facility. Saturday afternoon/evening/night was spent with Karen, Romo, and Jennifer - food and drinks and That 70's Show. Sweeeeeeeeeeeet. Karen and Romo have been great this week, showing me around new places, and getting me acquainted with the yummy Korean cuisine - bimibap, kimbap, lapokie, kimchi-chige...rice, veggies, spices, delicious.
I met SO many people living around the country in my adventures to Seoul. Both days (Wednesday and Friday) involved meeting up with friends and friends of friends and their next-door-neighbour's cousin's sister-in-law. Hooray for networking! Wednesday was Chuseok, the Thanksgiving holiday. In the morning I went to Deuksugung Palace and the Seoul Museum of Art. Then I met up with Hunter and some others. We walked around Insadong neighbourhood; there were lots of activities going on for the holiday: archery, ring toss, arrow toss, colourful traditional costumes. After taking that in, a group of 12 of us ended up having Korean BBQ for dinner. IT WAS SO TASTY. Basically, you sit at a table, they bring you the food - meat, veggies, spices, rice - and you grill it on your table. SO MUCH FOOD. We thenwent to a Canadian bar in Sichon (a very cool neighbourhood). Get this...one of the bartenders there went to my RIVAL HIGH SCHOOL. Small world, eh? It never stops. Yup. WCI graduate. NUTS! Friday I met up with Laura (a friend from high school), and some of her friends. We had quite the eventful day: the outside of the Korean War Memorial Museum; the cable car up to N Seoul Tower for a fantastic view of the city; Itaewon for the English book store (What the Book?), a delightful patisserie called Passion 5, and the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art. The latter was definitely a highlight for me. It combined ancient Korean artifacts and art, contemporary and modern Korean and international art, and the architecture of the building in itself was a psychological experience. In the ancient part, you start on the top floor and work down, via a hollow cyclindrical stairwell that leaves you feeling weightless. Another highlight - Laura, Dan (her bf), and I got locked in. They made an announcement about 6pm closing time, so we quickened our pace to see everything. Somehow, the modern art section gates closed and we had to call out, fingers crossed someone was around to let us out. Back up plan: sleep by the Andy Warhol. Later we went to Hongdae, another neighbourhood, for a drink. 
With all these different neighbourhoods in Seoul, I'm getting to know the metro system. It takes me less than 15 mminutes to walk to the Anyang station, and where I've been going as of late, it take me about 40 minutes travel time to get there. Not bad, eh?
That was a scattered entry. I apologise. I feel even MORE settled now, as this evening I decided to rearrange all of my furniture in my flat. With the limited space, it was not in the most functional set-up. Now it feels roomier.
Also! The weather has been lovely since Wednesday: sunny, no humidity, low 20s. Before that it was very rainy. On Tueday night, the paths along the river FLOODED! They were nowhere to be seen! Karen, Romo, and I had gone to Anyang to go shopping, and we sat in a cafe on the 16th floor of a building, watching the storm. Mmmm.
Oh! Last evening when Karen and I went out from Jennifer's for a beer/sweater run, she was SO amused because the 40-year-old Korean men seemed interested in me. "Beautiful," they said as I walked by. In the corner shop they were especially keen to attempt any conversation with me. Blame it on the Soju (that's Korean vodka).
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