Ugh. It’s just after 6:00 am, and Liam and I will be leaving for the DMZ (DeMilitarized Zone) in a few minutes. Normally, I’d be pretty excited, but I think I’m too sleepy right now. It’s one of the most heavily guarded (?) borders in the world, and we’re not allowed to wear jeans, shorts, sandals, military gear, and long hair is innapropriate for men. Not your typical tourist resort.

Liam, Gina and I arrived in Seoul yesterday afternoon – after a normal 2 hour bus ride instead of the 7 hours it took them to get to Daejeon on Tuesday. However, once we got back, they discovered that the water pipe to their respective apartments had frozen in their absence…so neither one of them have running water….which has it’s disadvantages.

Well, Gina and Liam arrived a full 5.5 hours late. Traffic out of Seoul last night was unreal, and a bit of blowing snow didn’t help either.

Once they arrived, and everyone was settled, we hung out until sometime past 3am….but we were all in bed by the time the monks started ringing their morning bell. (Iwas still awake, but in at least I was in bed.) After we finally got up, we had a spectacular day, and now the wee hours of morning have come again. Tomorrow we’re hoping to climb one of the local mountains if the weather cooperates.

AAaaaahhhhh. Lovely. My roomates have been gone for 4 days now. I’ve had the place to myself and have caught up on so many things that needed to be done. (I even got my Christmas letters written!) Now, I’m sitting here in a clean house, with clean laundry, a clean fridge and a hot cup of coffee listening to U2. Ahhhhh.

My friends Liam and Gina are coming down from Seoul tonight and we’ll spend a few days here together, then I’ll go back to Seoul with them for the weekend. Since everyone and their pets will be fleeing Seoul tonight in preparation for the Lunar New Year, I imagine that the usual 2 hour bus trip could possibly take upwards of 5 or 6 hours.

My friend Kim is coming over this afternoon after lunch, and I think we’re going to go ‘dumpster diving’. It’s not as gross as it sounds. Lots of people in the area discard furniture when they’re moving, or when they get new stuff. Since 2nd hand items are considered ‘unlucky’ here, things like chairs, desks, couches, tables etc. just get tossed out. So aroung out apartment complex, the trash pick-up areas often look like free yard sales. Most of our house is furnished with local discarded items. Kim spotted a nice sofa yesterday, so we’re going to go check it out.

Hmm, I’ve been so busy relaxing lately I hardly have anything to write about. Nice.