September 12

Seoul's got soul. Just wanted to try that title out. Our Korean Air flight was a little bumpy, including waking us up during our evening nap to tell us to buckle our seat belts (which I don't really understand, if there is ever turbulance enough to knock me out of my seat, I think there may be bigger problems, but anyways). Our "breakfast" was chicken and rice, at least their was coffee.
Sydnee and I were both exhausted after the flight because we got so little sleep on it and the night before we had been subject to inconsiderate roommates in our hostel. We got on a bus that took us to some street about 400 m from our "Seoul Backpackers"- thank goodness Sydnee had written down impecible directions from the web. We went to our room and Syd crashed and I took a shower, which invaribly woke me up, so I did some laundry, went to the post office, and used the computer. Right as I was about to run out of things to do around the hostel, Syd came down ready to go. We walked to the tour information office and from there found an authentic Korean tea house for a late lunch. I got barbeque beef and Syd got rice and vegetables, the waiter then began bringing out many small plates of many unknown items, leaves pulled from a tree and sardines were the only two I recognized. I tasted a very small lick of everything and stuck to the beef and rice.
We finished in time to catch a Seoul city tour bus, which was a fair deal at only 5,000 Won ($5). I mainly dozed, which is fairly predictable of me, since I've done that in a few other city tour buses. I roused myself enough to see a very neat looking Palace and the bustling shopping streets of Seoul. I am beginning to think all of Asia is obsessed with shopping. After our bus finished its two hour loop we walked down a street near our hostel that has many little shops and street food vendors. There were many locals out and I saw few other "western" faces. Since many of my entries are filled with complaints of the heat, I must mention the amazing weather we experienced here- absolutely perfect. Back at the hostel, we chatted with some English blocks and a guy from Jersey before I managed to climb up into top bunk and fall fast asleep.