You can take the girl out of Virginia...but you can't take the sunglasses off of her head

Seosaon time: 4:41AAM

Today's title is a reference to the fact that every picture I'm in shows me with sunglasses on my head.  For one, to attempt to not look windblown in every photo.  For another, because, in a lot of way, i just use them as incredibly expensive sunglasses.

Here we gooooooooooooooooo...

Rough start this morning.  I overslept because my alarm didn't go off and then had to rush to get ready.  My host dad (not to be confused with Bill Cosby's "Ghost Dad") dropped off baby Jay and drove me and an Ohio team member to a phone store to get her cell phone reactivated (she was an teacher in Korea 3+ years ago).

On the way, I snapped a few photos of car dealerships.  They don't have car lots like we do in the States, instead they use small buildings to showcase the cars.

Of course they were Hyundai and Kia dealerships.  My host dad later told me that there are generally four brands of cars in Korea - Hyundai/Kia makes up 70%, GMC, Samsung and Sanyo.

We got the team members phone reactivated and we were on our way.  One thing I've noticed about Korean businesses is that they focus on aestethics and customer service. Which is why a phone store looks like this in Korea

and not the crappy, cramped phone stores we're used to in the States.

We met up with our team and headed off for a tour of Seoil Middle and High School.  I'm just going to warn you now, this school will blow you away.  It's utterly insane and impressive and the kids are so smart, talented and sweet.

A little background, the school was started 30 years ago with about 100 students.  The principal has traveled to more than 100 countries and wanted to do something beneficial and decided to emulate the school after Eton in the UK (ie, a famous boarding school for boys attended by the likes of Prince William).

There are currently 900 students and 85 teachers...That's about a 10:1 student teacher ratio.  The students must pass entrance exams and they are the best and brightest.  There are dormitories for students that do not live locally.

In addition to academia, the students can partake in fencing, golf, guitar, and horseback riding to name a few.  The principal said the only thing Eton has that he does not is a crew team because Seoil is not located close enough to water. 

It is a private school that costs about $10,000 a year and dorms cost about $70 a month (ummm, can I live here?!!?)

The students begin the day at 8:30AM and finish by 4PM.  They then participate in their after school programs and finish by 10PM and THEN they do their homework until about 1AM!!!

So now that you've got the skinny about Seoil, let's take a photo tour.  Hang on to your hats, folks.

We started by meeting with some students in a press conference type set up where they asked us questions

How effing cute are those uniforms?!  The students were so respectful and so shy but you could tell they were eager to interact with us.  It's funny, even with the language barrier middle and high school kids are exactly the same.  You could take one look at them and tell what was trendy, who was cool, who was smart, etc.


Speaking of smart, a girl about 16 years old raised her hand and said (in perfect English): "I'm interested in non-governmental organizations.  Is Rotary one and how can I get involved?"
 

Ummmm....whoa. I didn't learn what a non-governmental organization was until I was 19/20 years old and that's because I minored in International Relations in college!!!!







 We left the press conference to take a massive tour of the grounds.

Then we toured the art building.  Keep in mind that STUDENTS did all this stuff.

Is anyone else feeling inadequate at this point?

We then watched a kungfu class in progress.  I tried to learn the name of it because it seems really cool but my ears heard it as "Goro" but when I Google that I only find images of  that Mortal Kombat character that had a bunch of arms.

And then we gave it a shot

We followed it with a quick look at the music room

And then some practice swings at the driving range

Was follwed up by a quick tour of the dormitories.  We started by viewing the study carrels where kids go to unwind at exam time.  This is not unlike carrels in American university libraries...or so I've heard cuz Lord knows I never really went to the library in college.

A view of the boys dorm.  Look how CLEAN it is.  They told us that they are cleaned by maids every day but...STILL, goodness!!!  Each dorm holds six students, two from each grade level.

We then toured some classrooms (holy heck they're using smart boards)

and took some group photos at a map of the USA.  Me and the English teacher Zack took an additional picture to represent our home state of Florida.

 We looked at the rec room where some people played ping pong and attached themselves to those old school fat machines, grabbed some lunch

and then we met with the Principal

Everything at Seoil is top notch and the kids are the cutest thing ever. Seriously, does your heart not want to met at this:

Something that's not so cute? The fact that my pants are too big.  I suspect I'll lose weight on this trip so I better find a belt from somewhere...

Anyway, after our tour we went to visit a "castle" that was the sight of Roman Catholic persecution during the Jeosan Dynasty.  The name escapes me and, of course, I've lost my pamphlet.  I'll have to fill it in later.

Like the cannon and the rocket launcher, the above tiger is a weapon as well.  The weapons shoot out of its mouth and the wings serve as side protection for the person using it.  Clever and beautiful.

This is a game, the object of which is to get the bamboo into one of the three holes.  The side holes are worth one point and the middle hole is worth two.

On the way back to the van, we saw a street vendor selling grilled rice cakes (which tasted kind of like a soft pretzel) and COTTON CANDY.

COTTON CANDY, COTTON CANDY, COTTON CANDY, COTTON CANDY, COTTON CANDY, COTTON CANDY, COTTON CANDY! HOORAY FOR ME!

It was less than $2...I should have bought 10...It came with a little fork, so I ate it with that.  I might just be pretentious and eat cotton candy with a fork for the rest of my life and when people question me look at them with contempt and say, "It's how they eat it in South Korea..get some culture, nincompoop"

I would like to take this opportunity to request that someone (ahem, mom) buy me some Robin's Eggs for me.  I freaked out when I realized they wouldn't be in the stores when I got home.

Anyway, the nwe went to the Seosan Astrology Center...which has nothing to do with the zodiac, LOL.  Apparently, this is one of the oldest yet most accurate star maps in the world.

Hey, Mom the bus to the planetarium must stop here. ;)

I used this telescope to look at the sun and see a sun spot.  You know, no big deal. Just another day in the life. 

We were led into the planetarium to watch a show.  It was really cool, unfortunately I couldn't understand a word they were saying.  The seats reclined so you didn't have to tilt your head back and all throughout the show, I kept wondering why they referred to it as 5D...until they turned the planetarium movie ended and turned into a space coaster simulator...complete with air blown in your face.  Ummm...why is this country so much more advanced than ours?! It was AMAZING.  I wish y'all could have seen it.  Here's a link to their website: http://www.dome3d.com/spacepark360/index.html  I mean...just look at that. LOOK AT IT.

So following the Astrology Center we went to dinner.  Now my host dad told me not to eat dinner because we'd be going out later with his family and some friends.  I picked at a few things before I remembered that.

And then they brought out octopus...live octopus...still moving octopus.  Video for those not faint of heart.

My host dad picked me up and we went to our restaurant we were had BOMB steak, onions and garlic that we cooked ourselves at the table.  Yum.  I spoke with them a lot, they had many questions for me (that I"ll get into at another time) and I was exhausted by the time we left.  But they were, they stopped at the grocery store for more wine to keep the party going.  I declined and hit the hay...but not before taking PICTURES WITH MY HOST FAMILY!

I got a picture with my little girl!!! And my host mom is so sweet.  She grabbed my hands and looked at me and then she told her husband, "tell her I did the best I could". Seriously, heart melting.  This marked my last night at their house and it sounds so crazy but I'm going to miss them.  It takes a lot to take a stranger in off the street that doesn't even speak the language and host them.  I'm going to think of them often and wonder what they're up to.

And that's a wrap folks.  Catch ya later.