The Seoul Subway

There is a short video at the end, so read on.  

Enjoy the interesting and unique subway in Seoul.

An octopus trying to get on a subway car.

This is one of the many random posters on the Seoul Subway.  No it's not anti-octopus.  It's warning people to not be crushed in the subway car doors, ouch that would hurt, haha.

You can see the first octopus hit its head and 

the other one is getting strangled. 

And yes, no drunk crabs on the subway.

There are some crazy or unusual ads in the subway, 
Here are some of them...

 Can you feel the fat?

Ok, This Poster says "Never Ending Climax"   Wow I want to go to that water park, don't you?   Also, you can't see, but the water river is called, "Extra Wide River"

O

Nice Hat

Waiting for the Train.  Notice there are doors at the platform.  This is different than New York City where people can fall to their death on the tracks.  In Seoul, the glass platform doors don't open until the subway train car doors open; Yeah no death!

Look Lirio DiMenichi, They are advertising adventures in the Philiines.

I think this is for a dating site. 

 Here are gas masks in case there is a fire or attack in the subway. 

Other random subway pictures.  

 Notice, Everyone is on their phone.

Here is a short video of the subway.

Adventures in the city

On Sunday I walked from the hotel and ended up at the Royal Tombs.  Admission was $1 so I went in and walked around for awhile.  There is a king and a queen buried in very interesting burial mounds.  Here are some pictures.

Also I went to the COEX, which is the largest mall in the country. There is an aquarium there and many stores, restaurants, and people.

Here is the building my school is in as viewed from Olympic Park.  To the right is a driving range, the green net keeps the golf balls in. 

First Weekend.

Here are a few pictures of driving from 

the airport to the hotel. 

Steven my brother gave me the 1000 won on the top for my going away party, the one on the bottom is a 1000 won that I got here.

Here is a picture of the building my school is in. 

Here is are pictures of the hotel room. 

Here's the bathroom in the hotel.  When I get my apartment the toilet will not be in the shower.  

This bathroom reminds me of the bathroom in the hotel I was in when my family traveled to the Netherlands for my brother Adam's wedding.

Walking around Gangnam

Eating Gangnam Style in Gangnam. We got pork and steak that was grilled on the griddle in the middle of the table.  Also, the meal came with a hot cabbage soup with tofu, an egg quiche thing, garlic, onions, hot sauce, and lettuce to roll everything in and eat.  

Some of the new teachers I will be working with.

We were going to eat at another restaurant and were walking in the door and a woman ran over to us.  

She was an American woman who said "Don't eat at that restaurant because you will get very sick eating there."  

She was a teacher at an English institute, she directed us to this restaurant which was very good. 

Enjoying my food.

 On Saturday evening we ate fried chicken.  On Sunday we were searching for a department store to get electric converters.  On our adventure we found some great street food to enjoy.  

 Look Mom, they have corn dogs.

We ate two plates of food that looked like this.  

How much did it all cost in American dollars? 

 The total cost was $5.00 American.  

 Deep fried hard-boiled eggs, potato things, and seaweed stuffed with rice noodles.

After lunch we took a cab to the department store, the fare was very cheap, $5. 

Then some people went back to the hotel while one of the teachers and I explore Olympic Park.  The park is very interesting with the 1988 Olympic buildings.  Also, there is a very nice park where families bring tents and enjoy their time in the park.  There were many interesting things in the park, but my phone was dead so I do not have pics of the park at this time. 

Until Next Time

The Bags are Packed

I will be leaving tomorrow to head to Seoul, South Korea.

I will be leaving around 1PM and will arrive on Friday at 4:00PM Seoul time (it will actually be around 3AM eastern time.  Traveling to Korea you gain a day.   
I just found out there will be another teacher from my school on the same plane with me.  
When I arrive in Seoul there will be five new teachers from the school at the airport all arriving on various flights.  Then we will all get driven by a driver to our housing.  
 I hope I can provide more photos and details about the trip once I arrive.

See you all later,
Domenic

Going Away Party and final Preparations

Going Away Party.

On Saturday many of my family came over for my going away party at my parents house.  We did make your own tacos and taco salads.  I know sort of weird to do Mexican food for going away to Korea, but I figure I will have plenty of Korean food when I am in Korea.  

Aunt Kathy and Pap got me some toothpaste, mouthwash and a cell phone charger.

Uncle Dave gave me a gift card, that will come in handy with any last minute purchases.  

Uncle Rick and Aunt Stacey gave me all types of handy things like Q-tips, bandaids, and most importantly body wash and soap so I don't stink in Korea.  

My brother Steven gave me 2,000 Korean Won which is about two US dollars.

Thanks to everyone for their gifts and/or being at my party. 

I have been seeing other people to say goodbye to for the past few weeks and still have a few more people to see.  In the past few weeks I said goodbye to Sheri and Kristen from Tenth and Green, my other friends in Reading(June, Phet, Tina, Craig), Heather Dutt, Joe Shosh and there are more.

My mom has been telling me to post this video on my blog, so here you go mom..

Seoul, My Happiness

Also, I have been making plans with the expat group in Seoul so I have things to do when I arrive.  

On September 7th they are going to Changdeokgung Palace, the Secret Garden, and Bukchon 

 Palace website