I loved South Korea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elizabeth, me, and Diane at a random garden

Korean BBQ!!! YUM!!!!

Diane and me being super polite--waiting on the footprints at the subway station!
No pushing or shoving here!!!

We LOVE dressing up!!!! :) By the way, I'm wearing a typical guy's outfit!

The Palace

I don't know what this statue thing is . . . creepy!!!!

The Peace Bell at Freedom Bridge up at the DMZ

Freedom Bridge . . . can you see North Korea!?

Seoul . . .beautiful Seoul!

Another lake at the Palace

Random creature statues! :)

This is a statue of General Lee, a war leader of Korea!

Seoul Tower

Our beautiful feather headbands!

Hello all,

I promised a blog about my trip to South Korea, and here it is!

Anyway, for the start of the October holiday, we spent three days at a youth retreat--it was pretty cool. I enjoyed the speaker, and the kids had a good time overall. The retreat topic was about "Walking Strong" and there were about four sessions overall. We also attended different workshops--one on basic Christianity, one about self-image, and a few others. It was a really good weekend to get away and refocus and be refreshed. Thank you, God!

We came back on Saturday night, and we had to pack for our flight to Seoul. Oh, and go to dinner and get foot massages, of course! We hung out with the team from South Korea (the speaker brought a few friends for the retreat) and it was a really great night. I stayed up until 2 in the morning just unpacking and repacking. I got about 2 hours of sleep until we had to get ready to head out to the airport. There were three of us heading to Seoul--me, Diane (roommate) and Elizabeth (another third grade teacher and fellow redhead:). We had a GREAT time!!! We traveled well together, and overall, it was a really nice trip.

I seriously LOVED Seoul. So different from Shanghai--less crowded, less pollution, less traffic. Mountains, fresh air, bike/walking/running paths, parks!!! It was nice to be out of Shanghai for a few days.

On Sunday, we dropped our luggage off at the Ramada (nice) and headed out. We went up to the Seoul Tower (we walked FOREVER!!! Torture Tour) and it took about three hours of walking. It was beautiful, though, and we had a great view of the city. We made it to the top just in time for the sunset. BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Anyway, we also made it to the big COEX mall (shocker) and ate at some random Korean place (not the best . . . ewww!) We did a little shopping at one of the outdoor markets and then went back and had an awesome dinner at the restuarant in the Ramada. We seriously scarfed down our food! We then tried out the sauna--so nice. I honestly want a sauna someday!

On Monday we slept in and then headed to Paris Baguette--yummy! My new favorite place . . . bread!!! on our way to downtown for a tour (that was closed) we found an awesome shop at one of the subway stations---OH MY GOSH! I loved it! I bought a ton of hair accessories (feather headbands, etc. ) and it was so much fun. Gosh, I sound shallow, but I really do like shopping. :)

After the tour was a no-go, we went to one of the main palaces and took some awesome pictures. It was a really cool palace, but the really fun part was getting to dress up in Korean costumes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got the guy's outfit, but it was still fun. I have never laughed so hard! I guess I really like dressing up in costumes!!!!! :)

You know, the rest of the night was shopping . . . eating . . . you know. Same old, same old. :)

On Tuesday we headed up to the DMZ zone, the border between North and South Korea. It was really interesting. We got to go down into one of the tunnels built by N.K. to invade S.K. (quite a hike), and we also got to go to a lookout to see into North Korea. We also went to the Freedom Bridge, and saw the big Peace Bell. It was a very very interesting place, and I'm really glad I had that experience. I think it's really sad how closed off N.K. is, and hope that one day people will reunite the two parts.

After the tour, we headed to TGI Fridays!!!!!!! YUMMY. :) Then we headed to a large bookstore (English books!!! Expensive English books!) and browsed for a while. Then back to the hotel--sauna and bed!

Wednesday, same old same old. More shopping. We went to the Asian version of Wal-Mart--called E-Mart--interesting. Like everything in Seoul, super expensive. We had dinner with a former SMIC teacher, Tera, and she took us to her favorite Korean BBQ---sooooooo good. There is a big fire pit thing were you cook your meat on the table an then wrap it in lettuce--wow. We want to try the Korean BBQ here in Shanghai, too. We headed back to Shanghia on Thursday, and then it was crazy getting ready for work on Friday AND Saturday--boo on stupid make up days!!!

Well, it's been a very very busy few weeks. Our next trip is to Nanjing for the weekend, and I'm looking forward to seeing another part of China. Other than that, our volleyball team just won their second game! It was a close one--we came back to win in the third game . . . so proud!

Enjoy the pics!!!

Susannah

P.S. I just bought my tickets to Thailand for Christmas!!!! :)

"I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list." (Susan Sontag)

A trip to Yangzhou

Left to right: Diane, Tiffany, Jen, Me, Christine

Funny sign!

Roommies!

Hello friends!

Sorry--I'm a bad blogger. I haven't had the time or energy to post lately. School has been SUPER BUSY--learning a new curriculum is never easy. Plus, grading sucks, as usual. :( BLAH. So, things are good but I barely have time to think! At least I have traveling to keep me sane! Oh, I started a Travel Association--our little group has major traveling plans this year!!! Hey, it's something to look forward to! :)

Anyway, Sept. 26th and 27th a big group of us headed out on a company sponsored trip to Yangzhou, which is a small city 4 hours south of Shanghai. Basically, the trip was super cheap (55 bucks) so we decided to go for it, even though the entire tour was in Chinese (try listening to a tour guide in a language you can't understand)! Also, most people come to Yangzhou to pick up their adopted Chinese child because the Yangzhou Social Welfare Institute is located there!!!

Anyway, we visited a very pretty lake called Slender West Lake. During the Qing Dynasty, the emperor of China visited that same lake . . . it was pretty--lots of pagodas and bridges, etc. It also has this huge White Pagoda that's shaped like a big white bowling pin. We walked around the lake (our tour guide continually had to wait for us--we like to wander!) and then took pictures dressed in Korean/Japanese/Chinese costumes!!!! It was like 5 quai--less than a dollar--because we took our own pictures! SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!! As you know, I like dressing up! I chose to be the Japanese girl and had a kimono and parosal. Lots of people gawked at the group of us, and believe me, we had a blast. Oh, I forgot to mention that random Chinese men asked to take my picture (or didn't ask) and Danielle and I (the only "white" girls) were very much stared at and asked to be in pictures, etc. It was soooooooo strange. People literally yelled for my attention at this restaurant in our hotel--at least I'm used to ignoring people!

So, yes, we visited Slender West Lake and then went on to see another famous garden--the Ge Garden. That place was really cool--they had different parts represent the different seasons, but the fall garden (where I climbed up all these rock formations) was my favorite. We also visited the house of a wealthy salt merchant--interesting doors and windows--very Chinese in the structure. We also got to do some shopping on this little Chinese street--it seriously looked like it could be from another century! Lots of little shops--I didn't buy much . . . :)

Overall, it was interesting to see another part of China! Oh, and getting a foot massage in my bed was another highlight!!!!! :) By the way, the food was NOT a highlight, I'll give you that. Lots of fish (eyes included) and duck heads. Yucky.

Anyway, my next update (coming soon, I promise) will tell the tales of the youth retreat and Seoul, South Korea!!! :) Basically, two words: LOVED IT!

Love,

Susannah

"Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life. " (Jack Kerouac)