Seoul Glow...

I'm here in Seoul and so far I've seen so many things, I don't even want to start my report until I have a long time to debrief.  More to come...

I'm back...The short of it is this: Seoul was off the chain.  I don't know which variable made it so, but I think it was a combination of things: meeting up with and old friend, making new friends, a lot of stuff to do, nice accommodations, etc, etc...To be honest, I didn't have very high expectations for Korea.  I just knew it was in the neighborhood and that I would stop in and say hi.  I also had an interest because it was the birthplace of Tae Kwon Do, with which I have a long history.
Seoul is huge.  I think there are about 20 million people that live in the greater Seoul Area, and it's evident.   There's just something amazing about a place that can have that many people and still function peacefully most of the time, that is. I saw the biggest brawl I've ever seen in my life.  It went on for 5 minutes which in fight terms is an eternity.  Glasses, bottles, and bodies were flying.  I was not thrilled about being there.  However, it passed, and we kept partying the night away.
I ended up crossing paths with a fun bunch of Canadian english teachers and we pretty much kicked it for the duration of my Seoul sojurn.  Then on Saturday, Brian my boy from Wichita came up from Kunsan, and I quickly endoctrinated him with Seoul life.  We had a ball.  We saw protests, riot police, temples, trains, markets, malls, movies, and everything in between.
I definitely recommend getting to Seoul if you get a chance.  There's so much to do that I'm sure you'll find your niche, whatever that is.  I regret not making it up to the DMZ, but they just had so many rules that I couldn't make it up there.  Note: you'll need khakis and a polo if you want to see the DMZ--they're very strict about that.  I guess I'll just have to go back and see it one of these days.  Also the best value for hotels in Seoul is the Chang Jin Motel in Jongno.  It's very central and for 35 bucks a night it's a steal for what you get.
I know this blog entry is sort of general in nature, but there is too much to talk about and too little time.  If you want to know anything else holler at the kid.