Christmas in Korea.......And China!

Well I totally jinxed myself about the " We haven't had any snow in Gumi yet" thing. Erik and I walked out our door Christmas Eve morning and I almost had a heat attack when I saw the white dust outside. I have to admit that I was a little excited and it did make it feel more like Christmas! 

Gumi Train Station. Erik and I were off to Seoul to spend the day celebrating Christmas like the Koreans.....SHOPPING.  

It was pretty crowded everywhere. Here are some army guys waiting to go home. 

They really got a lot of snow in the northern part of the country. View from the KTX. 

We went back to Insa-dong to get some handmade man du (dumplings) 

The place was really crowded, so we had to wait like 10 mins to get a seat. 

Lady making dumplings and taking orders at the same time! 

Haven't posted many embarrassing pictures of Erik lately, so I had to harass him while he was eating. Don't laugh or you will spit food everywhere.  

The outdoor shopping mall was deced out with lots of cute Korean Christmas decorations. 

A book Christmas Tree! 

After lunch and walking around in the cold, we stopped at tea shop to have some Korean tea. They had post-it notes everywhere, and this one was cute. 

Erik ditched me to go to the book store, so I continued to walk around and spend my hard earned money. This made me hungry so I found my favorite Korean street food. It is like a deep friend pancake thing filled with syrupy honey something. So good on a cold day. Too bad these were like $2 and the ones in Gumi are not only better but only cost around .70 cents. 

Then we went to Itaewon, the foreign district of Seoul. Not much there that we found interesting but this really funny store hehe.

We had Indian for dinner, and then waked around a little more. I liked these pagodas decorated in Christmas lights. 

Once we were finished walking we got on the train to the airport. They had a spa you could stay at in the airport It was only $20 to stay the night so it was cheaper than a hotel and right in the terminal. I didn't feel like rushing to the airport in the morning so this seemed like a nice place to crash. Plus I could wake up Christmas morning and sit it the hot tub! There was no one in there but me so I could take pictures without disturbing any naked Korean people.  

Then it was off to China in the afternoon. I got there around noon, and we went to eat right away. Nan and her husband had just got back from Beijing that morning so they were kinda tired. After hanging out at the house for a while it was time for dinner! Don't those chicken claws look great....eww. The raw shrimp was actually really good though. I know my dad will yell at me and tell me I am going to get worms for eating raw seafood....but too bad, they were tasty. 

Chinese pharmacy. 

Nan and her mom. We spent most of the next day at her parents place. I got to meet some of her aunts as well as her grandma, grandpa, and dad. They made a nice home made lunch and dinner. They were also complementing me on my chopstick skills! 

This is the traffic in Dalian. I was thinking of Kyle complaining about the driving in Korea, and thought to myself "wait till he comes to China!" 

After eating dinner with Nan's parents, it was time for a second dinner with the Fat Cat. I think I gained all the weight I have lost all year back in three days haha. This was a really nice seafood restaurant. You can see the thinly sliced fish on the plates. You can then cook it in the pot and dip it in the yummy sauce mix. I think it was a mix of peppers, mushrooms, and ginger. I wasn't even hungry, but I ate anyway!  

Nan's kitchen. 

...and dinning room. 

Nan and I went to the aquarium in Dalian to check out the Beluga whales.  Here are some workers feeding the penguins.

Dolphin show. I watched it in Chinese so I had no idea what they were saying.

These Belugas were the best part of my trip! I think Nan and I sat at their tank for more than an hour. At first they were really playful, and then they got feed and were falling asleep. 

When they try and sleep they kinda sink to the bottom of the tank and turn downside hehe.

Check out this lady's hair. I was so amazed at how big it was that I had to take a picture.

The last couple hours in Dalian. We did some last minute shopping, and then went to the airport.

I think Nan was a bit tired. More China picture to come when Nan sends the ones from her camera.