:: Brinna's ::

:: Sunday, December 18, 2005 ::
:: another week in korea ::

Here I am, a whole week later...that dinner was pretty nice. It was my first real experience eating with chopsticks. I've tried before, intermittently, but this time I was in an actual Korean restaurant, and eating with forks is a major no-no. I picked it up pretty quickly in my opinion. The most interesting thing about the restaurant (other than the top floor, huge window views of Seoul in all its neon brilliance) was the restroom toilet. Some bathrooms in Korea are rather archaic, basically a basin set into the ground (feels like camping, but you flush), which is interesting. And maybe this nice type of toilet is common in higher class places, I don't know. But using a toilet that has a warming seat, built-in bidet, and a warm-air fan to dry you post-unmentionable seems pretty nifty to me. As well as amusing to see how the bidet works when you're not sitting on it...juvenile, I know, but amusing. (A little rod extends from underneath the toilet seat, in the back of the bowl, and sprays water upward (which makes a nice little arc and lands on the floor in front of the seat when you're not sitting on it), then retracts out of sight when you push the off button.)

Other happenings...we went to a company Christmas party (as in, Andrew's company in the Army, akin to a battalion, not an office), that was fun, I wore the silk dress I got from Express. The dresses I'd sewed were a bit too formal for that one..it was supposed to be semi-casual. I can wear at least one of the dresses still, though, to the New Years Eve party. Not sure which one.

Also, we went shopping a bit, I haven't bought any clothes yet. I'm kinda proud of myself. There's a huge mall called the Coex Mall, which is under the Coex, a large convention center. Here's the link: http://coexmall.com/foreign/english/ I mean, this place is huge. Apparently the largest in 'the Orient'. The nice part is, it's got expensive brands (Chanel, Kate Spade, Burberry, Escada, to name a few) upstairs, and cheaper shops downstairs. Kinda makes up for the fact that in Denver, the shuttle took us to the Denver Pavilions instead of Cherry Creek, which was a large mall but it didn't have the same shops, and I was really looking forward to browsing Bebe. Anyway, I didn't buy anything at the Coex Mall, but I'm going back today via the subway while Andrew's at work. He wanted me to wait until we went down to Osan, a city about an hour south of here, before I decided to buy anything. The shops there weren't much cheaper for the clothes I wanted. They did have some nice things down there...we got a nice silk embroidered comforter/sham set for cheap, a silver chopsticks/spoon set with roses engraved on them, a mini kimono type outfit for Alice, and a lovely four panel painting. Great prices for souvenir type things.

It turns out Andrew will have to go somewhere else (like another base) for awhile a week before I leave, he's trying to get my tickets changed so that I can leave before him so I won't have to be in Korea a week by myself. I'd have to get some help from somebody, I've got too much stuff to haul around by myself. I suppose if I mail some of the large stuff back it would work, like the painting. I could go back with my suitcase in the expanded mode and pay oversize charges on the bag. I couldn't handle 2 bags and a carryon. We'll see..

I was kinda hoping to get a nice coat here, they have a stellar selection, because it really is cold here. Forget what they say about a temperate climate, it's freezing. Although, it's really no colder than Colorado, right now anyway. Very dry, which is odd because it's so humid in the summer. The temps have been at the highest, 30's, and the lowest, single digits. No neg #'s yet I don't think, but there's a hefty wind chill factor. Good thing I leave before it's supposed to get really cold!

:: Brinna 5:42 PM [+] ::
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