Korea, where have you been all my life?

Seoul-

If you like clear English signs and frequent public restrooms, its hard to go wrong in this city. Friendly and strange and 6,000 miles away.

People here love to take pictures. Families and couples snap pictures on all sorts of digital devices all day long. Korean children may be the most documented children on the planet. We went on a ferry ride down the river. What seemed to be a scenic boat tour, turned into a photo shoot for a hundred Korean families and another 80 young couples. Since Koreans love to take pictures, they don't seem to mind at all when you take pictures either. Taking pictures transcends the language barrier. The Koreans are doing the same thing we are and thats nice in a way.

I have eaten so many interesting things, but unfortunately I have no idea what most of them are. One day we ate at the fish market. We sat down on the floor and agreed with the waitress that the sashimi special was for us. After we ordered, we realized that we both miscalculated the price of the meal by a factor of ten. we had no choice but to smile and see what came next.

Even more impressive than Korean food is how restaurants are set up. There is no asking for water, napkins, an extra spoon after you have dropped yours on the ground. In Korea, its all there on the table. No more flagging someone down to refill your water glass, you just fill it from the jug on the table. What else is on the table? A button that calls your waiter! Just in case you need something important like . . .food or more So ju. So ju (which is a deceptively smooth vodka like liquor) is drank everywhere. It cheaper than beer which makes it a natural choice for people here what seems like all the time.

We had three days in Seoul on our way to Indonesia. The time went to quickly. Just as we were learning the metro and making drinking friends over lunch, it was time to go. You have never seen two people who were sadder to go to Bali!

Mark and Juliah