High Tea and the Ocean

A couple of days of catch-up in this one. First we start with High Tea at a very fancy hotel. Mimi really wanted to do this while we were in the British Isles. It was a bit spendy, but worth it.

What we've been up to

Yesterday I woke up and felt better, so I went with the others to Howth (rhymes with "tooth," not with "mouth") to see the ocean and go hiking. Unfortunately, I think I overdid it a little because I ended up back in bed at 8PM with chills and fever. Or maybe that fever was a sunburn... Hard to say, but I felt like crap anyway. I'm going to take it a bit easier today and drink lots of fluids, and hopefully I'll stay on my feet.

Oh hey, did I mention that I got a minor sunburn? We all did. IN IRELAND.

It was gorgeous, and it's shaping up to be the same today. I guess we're just lucky with the weather.

Sick

Sorry for the lack of posts. I'm sick. Hopefully I'll get better in time to enjoy Dublin a bit, but right now I just wish I were home. That's all. I'm going back to sleep.

Vermeer

Yesterday we took a train to Hague (or Den Haag) because everyone wanted to see Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. You know the one. It's famous.

Cheesy cheese

I have been well and truly converted on cheese. I used to think I didn't like it that much, and even if there was some that was okay (gruyere... yum), I certainly didn't like goat cheese.

Yeah, no. Cheese is genius.

PRIDE

I took a frankly insane amount of pictures at the Pride parade, so I'll just throw a few of my favorites up here.

Paint Your Palette Blue and Gray

We went to the Van Gogh museum with our roommates.

The guy on the bunk laughing at Stellar's antics is Darren. There's also Alvin, a Chinese-Canadian drummer who is very cool. The museum was amazing, but unlike the Orsay, when they say that there are no pictures allowed, they aren't fooling around. No pictures this time.

Canals and Bikes

Everyone else wanted to sleep in, so I wandered around alone this morning. I tried to get lots of pictures so you could understand how cozy and beautiful Amsterdam is.

AMSTERDAM!

Guys guys. I love Amsterdam. I haven't even been her for a day, and I can already tell. Everyone is friendly and speaks English. The canals are twisty and full of adorable antique boats. Our hotel is cozy and comfortable. There are bikes everywhere. And all the natives and tall and beautiful.

Third Time's the Charm

Today was our time to make up for the things we missed during the week. Namely, the Musee de Orsay and the Catacombs, both of which had foiled us with their long lines before. I especially wanted to see the Catacombs, since I had tried and failed to visit them when I was in Paris with Tyson. First up was the museum, for which we got up at an ungodly hour.

The line was long, but not as long as before. Stellar wigged out when she saw what was inside. There were some of her favorite pieces by her favorite artists. I recognized almost none of them, so I just went along for the ride and enjoyed the new experience.

Laundry and Impressionists

Laundry day.

We were perplexed. The soap dispenser was on the other side of the room from where you put coins in, and the machine ate three of Stellar's euros. We managed to get our clothes clean though.

Out on the Town

Some select photos from last night. Check out how red Stellar got.

The Best Crepes in Paris

On Friday night, after spending the day at Versailles, we wanted to get some more cheese and baguettes and have a picnic dinner on a pedestrian bridge. Apparently lots of people hang out on this bridge at night, play music, eat food, drink wine... But we got back pretty late and we were exhausted, so by the time we went back out all the boulangeries were closed. We went by the bridge, but we'll have to wait for another night to join in the fun.

PARIS!

Parisian food!

EDIT: Sorry. I was going to edit this post with a recap of the last few days, but as soon as I uploaded the video the internet crapped out. Then whenever I tried to finish it, I kept running out of time! Then by the time I returned, there was more to recap! I need to learn Mimi and Stellar's method of shorter and more frequent posts.

Blogless

As anticipated, we're keeping busy and I have far less time to blog than I did in Korea. It doesn't help that we only have Wifi in the (tiny) lobby of our hotel and not in the room. I'll try to keep you updated and share pictures and whatnot, but the updates are probably going to be fewer and farther between. They might pick up in Amsterdam and Dublin if we have more convenient internet.

As for tonight, I need to sleep. Just checking in to let you know that we're here, we're fine, and we're keeping busy.

Not afraid of heights

Eun-mi took me to Nami island today. The travel time was a bit much for a day-trip, requiring a 45-minute bus ride, a 20-minute subway ride, an hour-and-a-half long train ride, a taxi, and a ferry to get there. Whew. But it was completely worth it! We got to spend some quality time together, the weather was gorgeous, and I got lots of pretty pictures that you unfortunately cannot see. Sorry. I have a few from Eunmi's camera though!

Final week

I'm back in Suwon, and, like an idiot, I have brought all of my (numerous) electronic cords... except the one that hooks my camera up to my laptop. So no pictures until I'm back in Seoul. Sorry.

As I shuffled through the door to the daycare with all my bags, a few kids poked their heads out of their classrooms to see who was making all the noise. The ones from Eunmi's class peered for a few seconds, then suddenly burst out into the hallway with cries of, "Christina!" They had to be herded back into the classroom. They're as happy to abuse me as ever, and I stayed for the last part of the day.

We had Chinese food delivered for dinner, and I gorged myself. Korean delivery Chinese food is better than Chinese restaurant Chinese food! Our meal included really excellent ja-jung-myun (sp?), so I took a picture to make Stellar jealous. Now that picture is trapped on my camera. Boo.

I'm going walking today to explore the area around the new apartment. Last time I was here, I never entered or left the place except in a car. Uncle says there's some nice hiking in the hills behind the complex.

Fountains

Now that I have found my tiny shorts and sports bra buried deep in my drawer, I can face the heat without dying. I also found my flip-flops, and quickly noticed that I have been wearing my sneakers for far too long; I have a pretty impressive ankle-tan-line.

I decided to start things off at City Hall, since I hadn't been there since the first World Cup game. I couldn't get pictures that night due to rain and limited pocket space, but here's what it looked like:

Not so impressive in the daylight, and minus the throngs of red-clad, screaming fans.

Soju Night

Last night, since I finally felt well enough not to go straight to bed and stay there until noon the next day, I stayed up with Kris. After everyone else had gone to sleep, we rifled through the secret cupboards (that are too high for Eun-hyuk to find) and put out mangoes, chips, crackers, and a bottle of soju. We talked and laughed for hours.

Just as we were getting into our third shot of soju, we heard something. Eun-hyuk was toddling out of his room, looking for his mommy. At first he looked upset, like he wanted her to comfort him. Then he spotted what we were up to, specifically the shrimp-flavored chips we had out. An impish grin broke out over his face while Kris tried to distract him. While she made up a story about a wolf outside the window, I quickly stuffed the food under the table. She finally managed to shoo him back to bed, and we broke down laughing.

Later, Sunghun joined us. I think this was because we woke him up with our impromptu karaoke session. Kris wanted to hear Park Jaebeom's version of "Nothin' On You," so I taught her the magic of Youtube. Then we kept finding new songs, looking up lyrics, and singing softly along.

I think I will go to Suwon on Thursday, which makes this my second-to-last day in Seoul. I'd better make it count, so I'm busting out my guidebook and trying to find a place I haven't been yet. I'll tell you about it tonight!

Wandering

It occurred to me that these are my last days in Seoul. Soon I'll be going to Suwon. I'll stay there for about a week, since I haven't seen the family since before I went to China. By the time I come back, it'll be just in time to pack and head back to the States. I suppose I could seek out more museums and mountains via the guidebook, but 1) I'm lazy and 2) I often have more fun just wandering aimlessly and seeing where I end up.