So, we got this thing for fish, see...

And so one fine day in March, Hilary, Geoff and I decided to see Olympic Park because there's this really old fortress there amid dozens of olympic-ian building-ness. However, when we got there, it was crazy cold. Being the hardcore adventurers that we are, we booked it down to the subway and went to the (indoor) aquarium at COEX Mall. Other than there being 500 people pushing you through each section of the aquarium, it was quite spiffy! Enjoy les photos!

Who wants a sea anemone? Yes... we thought you might...

If this picture weren't so blurry, it'd be pretty sweet. Unfortunately, sharks actually move, and our camera doesn't exactly respect that.

There were crocs...

...and big red fish things...

...and sea dragons...

...and stingrays too!

And then there was the part where you get to pick up starfish and take pictures of yourselves picking up starfish. This is one of those pictures.

So one fine day, Jennica took us down into the heart of Insadong and along its psycho alleyways in search of "a teahouse with birds". Alas, t'wasnt meant to be; instead, we happened along this little teahouse (without birds) that was full of awesomeness for a nice relaxing afternoon...

L'interieur du teahouse: it's spacious, woody and reflective.

Some bar/other shots

No, not interpretive dance; it's Hilsey chuckin' the darts with Korean men looking on.

Oooh! Our bathroom! The whole thing is waterproofed so you COULD have a shower anywhere in there!

This made me VERY happy: costco in Seoul has 12" apple pies!!! We are addicted to their cinnaminnnny goodness!

It's the American Eagle of Korea! And it's name is hilarious. I mean, really, who a u?

Just two peeps and we're having a good time, baby.

The lovely ladies who happened to all dress in black. Really, it wasn't planned. (These are all foreign teachers at Topia: Elysha, Hilary, me, Wendy, and Jennifer)

Soccer in Seoul!

Know why we're excited?? That's right, it's the pre-world cup soccer game with South Korea vs. Angola! (That's an African team in case you're not aware - I wasn't before!)

Ahh, the World Cup Stadium. Here's some yellow dudes prepping for what you'll see in the next pic.

These dudes marched at the beginning of the game. The crowd was going wild chanting something that sounded like "Hey, amingo!" (Clap clap, clap-clap clap) I wish you could hear the rhythm in my head. But you can't. Too bad for you!

And the game is in full swing. The guys in red shirts our our guys...

There was probably around 60,000 people there that night, being a pre-world cup game and all.

As the game was ending, the snow started to fall!

Looking cool...
















...and looking even cooler.

The packed subway after the game

Wow! Who would've thought, in Korea of all places. Gawwwrsh.

So we along with Hil and Geoff went to this slightly sketched-out galbi place where we cooked food on an already-very-greasy grill. It was cheap though and we didn't know where else to go. Yeehaw! The adventures.

Yum yum. Galbi goodness!

The two Hilarys in colourful form.

Mmmm... we love bulgogi. Wait a minute, this wasn't what we ordered!!! Oh well, it tasted good, kind of.

Saying goodbye to Rob and Andrea...

ROB!!! ANDREA!!! No, wait, that's Kevin. Sorry dude. We went to a $20 all you can eat/drink place called Platinum to celebrate losing two friends. It was great fun and yeah, here are some more pics from that night:

Hersey Hilsey holdsing a beersey!

Ze Oliver chicks!

The blue-eyed, curly haired, tall-looking Oliver-girl husbands...

There they are: our recently departed (for Asia and Canada) Rob and Andrea. We miss you guys! (And don't worry Andrea, your chair is in good hands and appreciated by many a bum. And Rob, where would we be without the many items you gave us -especially the peanut butter...and love?)

Then Dan and Rob went to town manufacturing gross amounts of balloon oddities...

Possibly my favorite balloon hat: monkey on a palm tree... on my HEAD!

Climbing the BEAST

Voila our montagne... all covered in snow. But when it melted, we went to TOWN!

So, at the bottom of the mountain, there are these little statues that kinda look like grave markers, but we're not really sure. Here's hoping they're not!

There are these really cool stone steps part way up the mountain in our backyard, and um, this is a picture of them.

Me and Jennica on our first hike ever in the whole wide world.

So in Korea, just in case hiking up a mountain doesn't entertain you enough, there are also work-out stations strategically placed up the hill. We want to get a video of the old Korean women hoola-hooping at 600ft cuz, dude, they are serious hoopers and it's impressive.

Some 50-year old Korean was walking down these inclines. The older dudes (with the straight backs) are super hard-core and the hills belong to them.

This is Nowon-Gu, the area we live in. On this particular day, you could actually see the mountains in the distance. It's so beautiful here when you can see through the smog.

Our apartments are the little green-bottomed ones in the middle of the picture. Seoul is essentially thousands of these apartments -it's absolutely neat.