On The Border Baby!!

As you may know, Saturday I went to the dentist. So, I woke up a few hours before I had to leave so that I could wash dishes, do laundry, clean my bathroom, etc. It took me 2 1/2 hours to get to their office from the time I walked out of my door to the time I walked into theirs. Tufts Dental in Gangnam...I'm a believer. Patient care and technology used was phenominal; better than the US. I was given a face sheld with a hole in it so the dental technician could work without getting my face all wet and messy. She electronically scraped at my teeth until my ears were ringing from the obnoxious sound. She would explain things about my animal (enamel) and tar-tar (tartar). She also took pictures of my teeth with a small camera she stuck in my mouth. Neat, eh? Then she polished and flossed before the dentist came in. Yeah, I definitely though she was a man, and I'm not the only one. After hearing her through the vents and down the hall with other patients, I was shocked to see a women. After studying in the States, there's no telling what she actually is..hehe. Checkup 66,000W. Two cavities filled on the following Wednesday 250,000W. I suppose I could do that.

Then I met Lee and her friend Kelley outside Samseong Station before heading to the Coex mall. We walked around, chatted, had dinner, had coffee, chatted some more, and hopped back on the train by 10:30pm in order to get home in time. Lee lives in Ansan near me, and Kelley lives in Nowon, near Uijeongbu, in the opposite direction. Dinner? What did I have you ask? Was it good? Oh my goodness...I don't know where to start. I mean, I even split something and it was 10,000w. Endless freshly made chips & salsa, queso, guacomole, chicken quesadilla (with REAL chedder cheese)!!! I was in heaven. I'm pretty sure I had three or four bowls of salsa (we each got our own)! On The Border was the name of the restaurant.

After finally getting home, and taking a shower, I jumped into bed around 2am. Shame, seeing as I was to get on the train by 9:30am the next morning to go hiking with Mrs. Moon, one of my co-teachers. Oh, was I exhausted, but I got up, in the cold, in the rain, got dressed and ready, headed out the door, walked towards the station, waited at thes station for 30 minutes, and headed off to Surisan for a nice day's hike. It was really muddy on some parts...really muddy. And others still had snow. It was cold, but a nice hike. Surisan's difficulty is very low, and manyportions going up and down the mountain are flat land. However there are more difficult areas that can take your breath away. Mrs. Moon packed a lunch of home-made kimbahp, cold rice things with some veggies in bread, tomatoes, and rice cake, along with a Gaterade to drink. Unfortunately, there wasn't any peak of the mountain. Well, no summit anyway. Daddy went with me last time, but we headed back before reaching the top for fear he would pass out.

I heard of this website called Meetup.com. Here you can find meetup groups all over the world...in Korea, the US, Canada, and more. People just looking for other people to hang out with. Shame I didn't find this earlier. I found hiking groups and more in the Seoul area. Lee and Kelley have had each other since day one, and so have Alida and her boyfriend. They all live pretty far from one another, but seem to meet all the time. So, when asked if they have ever been truly lonely in Korea, they have all answered no. Wish I could have said the same.

Class will start soon. Just dropped in for an update. Talk to everyone later. Love to all XO