Kyle's Here!

Yay Kyle has arrived in Korea! I can't believe that he has been here for a week already. After school on Friday, Erik and I left for Seoul. We stayed the night in a really cheap motel, and then woke up in the morning to look for the French Village of Seorae. Here is Erik as we have our morning cup of coffee in front of Seoul Station. Soon we would be off to look for the hidden village. We walked all over and we could not find it. We saw one sign in French, but nothing else. We decided to get in a cap and ask the driver to take us there because the map we had was no help. I think it even led us in the wrong direction.

After walking around for two hours we were starving and settled for a restaurant called La Trouvolle. We ate a nice Western breakfast that consisted of an omelet, french toast, bacon, hash-browns and sausages. We didn't have lot of time to explore because it was already one and we had to be at the airport to get Kyle by 3:00.

But we decided to walk around  a little. It was a really nice part of the city. Here's Erik sitting on a rail with a sticker of the French flag. As we were walking we could here french mothers yelling at their kids. There was also a cool park because there were both French families and Korean families with their kids. It was nice to hear French being spoken. We had no luck finding a bookstore though. As we were just about to leave we came across a small bakery so we decided to go in. When we walked through the door we were greeted with a "Bonjour! Parlez-vous le Francais?" Which is can you speak French? So Erik bought me a crossiont in French and we decided that the patisserie had completed our hunt for the French village and we got back on the metro headed in the direction of the airport.

And wow did it get busy on a Saturday afternoon.

We got pretty good at finding our way around by metro. Can you find Erik coming through the gate? After transferring we arrived back at Seoul station and got on the Airport Railroad that would take us to Incheon and hopefully to Kyle! I really love the metro and could get used to living in a big city like Seoul. It is so convenient  and not to mention faster than the bus.

After waiting a half an hour for Kyle to walk through those gates we finally saw him dragging a suitcase full of goodies from America. Incheon is such a nice airport. It is so easy to get around and very international.

And this is Kyle after a fifteen hour plane ride. I was really happy to see him. We kept saying "Your in Korea!" and " I can't believe I'm actually in Korea!"

So we all sat down and made a plan. Erik and I really didn't know where we were going to stay the night so we didn't have an exact place we were going to go. Kyle and I went and exchanged his dollars for Won, and Erik called a hostel in Seoul. Then the real adventure began. We had to carry that heavy suit case all around Seoul haha. We took the airport railroad back to Seoul Station, than transferred on the subway twice, than had to walk around and try to find the hotel. I think Seoul was a good first place for Kyle to see. It is pretty foreigner friendly so you don't get stared at like you do in Gumi. It was around 5:00 when we got to the hostel so the night life was just starting to pick up.

Here is Erik yelling at me for taking his picture while we wait for Kyle to finish emailing mom. Our Hostel was really nice, but it was only meant for two people. We managed to squeeze the three of us in there though. It was Korean Style sleeping so we had three mats on the floor. You will see a picture of it below.

Here is Kyle putting his shoes on. He didn't understand why he has to take his shoes off so much haha. We told him whenever he sees a raised floor and slippers that he should take off his shoes, and that he also might have to change them when he goes into the bathroom. After getting rid of the suitcase and informing Mom that Kyle had arrived safe, we were all set to go explore Myeong-dong, a popular shopping area in Seoul. I don't think Kyle was expecting the amount of people he was about to encounter. Even I was amazed! 

After a bit of shopping we decided to take Kyle to his first Korean restaurant. They had tables and chairs, but we made him sit on the floor Korean style. I was being a mean older sister and making him pose for lots of pictures. Here you can see him with a nice backdrop of lettuce.

I think this picture sums up Kyle's opinion of Korean Food haha. This is his first bite of kimchi. I think his face explains enough.

After dinner instead of walking around in a sea of people Erik suggested  that we should go see if we could find Namsan Tower.

Kyle and Erik walking up the hill toward the cable car.

Namsan Tower is a communication and observation tower at the top of Namsan Mountain. In this picture you can see the cable car that goes up to it.

This spot is a really popular place for people to go at night. It was like 10:00 and there was a huge line to get on the cable car, that mostly consisted of couples.

Along the railing of an observation deck are hundreds of "locks of love." Couples write promises to each other that they  will never separate and then hang the lock from the fence.

View of the city from the top of the mountain. Much cooler in person!

Kyle's goofy face.

And Erik's goofy face.  No one ever wants to take pictures but me so you never see my goofy face haha.

I think by this point kyle was getting tired and was ready to go to bed.

Here is our tiny room. Erik is sitting on two beds and you can see the space in the middle where the third bed fit. We didn't sleep so well because Kyle slept very well and was snoring all night ;)

Sunday morning we headed back to Seoul Station and went to look for Gyeongbok Palace. You can see a picture of old Seoul Station built by the Japanese when they occupied Korea.

Kyle really liked the soda machines in the metro.

Kyle on the metro...haha

Erik and I leading the way as we transfer subways lines.

I forgot to mention that Sunday was also Erik's Birthday! It was kinda funny because as we were walking out of the station there was this replica of and gate that was suppose to prolong your life if you walk through it.

Me looking at a carving of the ten symbols of longevity (Ship-jangsaeng) in the station. The symbols are the sun, mountains, water, clouds, stone, pine trees, mushroom of immortality, turtles, white cranes, and deer.

Here is Kyle at the entrance of Gyeongbukgung.

And Erik and I at the entrance.

This is the main gate (Gwanghwamun) at the southern entrance of the complex. I think we entered on the east or west gate.

Kyle posing next to one of the imitation guards.

The palace was first constructed in 1394 and was the largest palace built during the Joseon Dynasty.

The throne at Sajeongjeon Hall

Close up of the dragon painting

Kyle with no shoes in one of the halls.

You can see the city scape behind that gate.

Kyle putting his shoes back on.

 The gargoyles on the roof of a building indicate that buildings importance.

Kyle walking through a short gate...or is he just getting really tall?

Amisan garden behind the queen's quarters.

Outside folk museum there were statues of the Chinese zodiac. This zodiac goes  by the year you were born instead of the month. Erik is a pig.

I am a dragon.

And Kyle is a dog.

Kyle under a traditional yangban hat inside the folk museum.

Old farming tools

Kyle playing a traditional Korean game.

A really busy Lotte Mart at Seoul Station.

Kyle by the river in Gumi.

Once we got back to Gumi we got Kyle a membership at the gym, and took him to a chicken restaurant. I have to go to school all day so he usually hangs out and goes to the gym or walks around the city.

The other day we went up to the reservoir near the foot of Geumo Mt.

Kyle adding a prayer rock to the pile.

Me on the bridge.

It was so hot that night I wanted to eat some cold noodles. Kyle didn't find them very appetizing, so I had to order him some dumplings. My bowl looks much better than his.