This was an ancient river that ran through the heart of Seoul and had been buried for about 50 years. It was a few days after our weekend in Seoul that we learned that it had been covered by an elevated highway, until a few years ago. After our visit we saw a program on the Discovery Channel that covered its incredible transformation. The six kilometer river was uncovered without disturbing any traffic around the site or the ancient history underneath. We stumbled upon this area while trying to find Dongdaemun Market. We went on Sunday and most of the shops in the area seemed to be closed. If we had know the significance of the area we may have explored further.

We walked to the bus station on Saturday morning and were surprised to find a wait of 45 minutes until there was a bus with any room going to Seoul. We ran into one the teachers we work with and found she was headed to Seoul as well on the same bus. We were happy to have the company while we waited. By the time we arrived in Seoul i had started feeling ill. My stomach felt awful and i could feel another cold coming on. After we checked in to our hotel we searched the area for a travel agent's office we had seen on the internet. There are no street addresses, so we had to go by my memory of a map i had seen on their outdated website. It took a few passes up and down the street, but we finally found the place a half hour before it closed. We booked tickets for Tokyo, and we'll be spending eight days during Christmas week in the Land of the Rising Sun. All we have to do now is figure out a decent hotel. After that we headed to the electronics market Yongsan to find a few PSP games for my birthday and an MP3 player for C for Christmas. We never had any lucky finding English games, but we found a nice Sony MP3 for C. Heading back toward the hotel for supper we decided to get Subs from Subway instead of the steaks we were craving for weeks, because of the way i was feeling. Overall the trip was a kind of disappointing. We didn't get to do as much as we had planned and we both slept badly. Hopefully this next weekend will be better when we head back to pick our plane tickets.

The last week has been very busy at work. Test time coinciding with the end of the month keeps me perpetually busy. Always something to do for me, and i'm pretty sure i have way more students than any of the other teachers. Just before my birthday i got a great present from C's parents. They know of my obsession with those lovable(?) losers, the Edmonton Oilers. I don't know why i, but i scream at the TV like a insane man whenever i watch them play. They're number two on the list of the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked that i cheer for. Number one are the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Anyway, C's parents bought me an Oilers t-shirt and hoodie that i'll wear until C pries it's threadbare, holey, faded mess from my cold dead body. Wow, i really rambled incoherently tonight. I think i need to update more often.
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