Visa success!

Woooo! I finally found the damn travel agency, and I can pick up my passport with a shiny Chinese Visa next week.

I didn't have a specific destination in mind today, so I decided to start at Wangsimni station and go from there.

Wangsimni is attached to a huge mall complex, and all of it is sort of Renaissance-themed. It's all pretty cheesy, but at least it's interesting. You never know if you're going to find another faux-Greek statue around the next corner.

And to go with the European vibe, they have crepes! I had a strawberry and chocolate and whipped cream crepe, which was wonderful except that it was presented in the weirdest way possible. There was an enormous dollop of whipped cream, and the crepe was wrapped around it like an ice cream cone. I had to lick the cream out before I could eat the actual crepe. I didn't mind, since I'm the kind of person who will squirt canned whipped cream straight into my mouth, but it was a bit inconvenient.

I found another Buddhist temple while randomly wandering the side streets.

There was a rambling flea market on the streets on the way to Dongdaemun, where I ended up. Though I haven't exactly learned the streets in most parts of town (like I said, their complexity rivals that of fractals), I'm becoming pretty good at getting from place to place. Now that I know a few major landmarks and I've figured out how to use the subway, I can usually follow the street signs and find my way.

I didn't do anything terribly exciting, but I'm finding that I really enjoy just walking. The other day, after class, I walked along the river and into town; I didn't realize I had walked over five miles until I checked a map. Another time I took the train to Yeouido and started walking north. I was surprised when I suddenly hit Myeong-dong, which was about seven miles away. It really helps you get a sense of scale to walk from place to place, just as long as you have a whole day to waste doing it.

And while I might have to start contending with rain soon, today turned out to be beautiful.