Well a lot has happened from when I last posted. I guess being busy is a good thing. I'm always on some kind of adventure. Life has shown that sometimes you have to create your fun. I did that earlier this month.
The Picnic
As mundane as a picnic might seem to you, it can be quite the little adventure if you plan it out correctly. I had Taryn, Tom, Momo, and Josie over for a picnic at a local park near my house. I cooked about 2 lbs. of rice and bought about 4 lbs. of meat. Josie and I also prepared onions, mushrooms, garlic, and green leaves for samgyupsal. Of course, you can't eat it without some (or a lot ) of soju. 
We setup our portable grill and placed our blanket on the middle of the steps. This place was perfect for two reasons. First, it's close to the park. Second, random Koreans would walk by and stare at the glory that was our picnic.
Now being the clever person that I was, I told Tom that we couldn't waste any food. This, unfortunately, wasn't the best idea. I figured that the more we ate the less we had to carry back. Not only was there a ton a food but the girls could only eat so much. To my surprise, the 140 lbs Tom ate more than I did. Haha. All the food was devoured, but I could bearly move from all that meat. 
After a bit of aerobie, we decided to play some badminton. You be surprised how difficult the game can be when you're full of food... and drunk. No suprise, that I beat everyone and reigned supreme for a bit. However, Josie put me in my place quick enough. 
We sat down on the bench and watched this older couple play for a while. They made us look like a bunch of amateurs. After while, I think they started to get annoyed by our ohhs and ahhs. 
Songdo 
One Saturday, Josie and I decided to visit Songdo. The city opened about a month ago and I hadn't been there yet. We took the subway about four stops from my apartment. We got out near Songdo Technopark. As we got to the top of the subway, we stopped into a coffee shop. To our great surprise, the coffee shop owner had meet the present of Korea. She had a picture of her standing next to him. I, of course, felt the need to take a picture with her. So now I'm only two degrees of separation from Korea's president. 
We walked around the park and couldn't help notice all the people doing some type of Thi Chi. I guess they were trying to promote calmness and inner peace. Then again, they also seemed to be freaking out about swine flu at the same time. I couldn't tell you the number of times I had my hand sprayed with sanitizer. It would be a person with OCPD paradise.
One of the more rememberable moments from this trip was the pyramid. Josie was picked for this free energy restoration. This involved her sitting in this pyramid made of copper tubing and having a man wave his hands up and down near her head. He kept telling her to relax and keep looking forward. It was creeping me out and I think she was feeling the same. She kept trying to leave without being rude, but the man yelled at her to still. After what felt like forever, he finally her go. 
I also walked into a booth which had a flugun. Now Korea really needs to pick out better names for it's inventions. It's not a gun and it doesn't give you the flu. It's more like a reverse Dustbuster that shoots out some smoke that kills the flu germs... Or at least, that was what I was was led to believe. 
Making traveling the city easier, we found a place that rented bikes for free. We rode our bikes and found our way to Central Park. It was a large area that you had to pay to get into. Sadly, we had to travel all the way back and return our bikes before we could enter. After a few glorious hours of bike, traveling by foot seemed tedious. 
What can I say about Central Park that would impress you? Ummm. Lets see.... Well nothing really. It was a place that claimed excitement and adventure, but it disappointed at every turn. 
Well, I guess that's not totally true. I got to go through the foreigners line with the help of Josie. They didn't let me in until I pointed that I was with her. Then I got flu gunned again and forced to use more hand sanitizer. 
There were such attractions like the tunnel that contained gourds above us, buildings that promote Korean brand names, and some of the lamest robots that I have ever seen. I'm far from impressed for what Korea think the future will be like.
One thing about Songdo I do like are the buildings. Sure, many of the buildings are the same, but I like their design. However, it's not all that different from Gangnam in Seoul.
Seodaemun Prison
This was a prison that use to hold Koreans when Japan occupied Korea. Korea now use this as propaganda against Japan…. I mean, as a history lesson.
Click on picture to see what Korea has to say about this prison. Click here to see what wiki has to say.
China Town
I went to China Town again. This time with Josie. I have to say, it was much better the second time around. The garden was in full bloom and the night setting made it all the more beautiful. 
On the ledge
Instead of me telling the story, I'll let Josie tell it. This is quoted from her blog (http://withbackpack.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/kid-on-a-ledge/).
This is not a travel entry, but just a weird thing that happen to Mark and
me.
Late Sunday morning, while at Mark’s apartment, I was sitting at his desk wasting time on Facebook. I noticed a head bobbing around outside the window. I thought, at first, that someone was fixing something outside. But the person was just pacing outside the ledge.
Mark and I got up and looked outside to see what was going on. That’s when we realized that the person was just a little kid. He ran over to the corner of the building. Mark’s apartment is on the 6th floor so I panicked thinking that this kid might fall to his death. I had no idea what to do. I don’t speak Korean. How would I explain to someone what was going on before the kid falls off the ledge? I quickly took some pictures to
make it easier for us to get help.
I really didn’t have to think about this for very long, because Mark climbed out the window during my little panicky episode. He shuffled over to the kid and picked him up. Mark said the boy struggled a bit.
Mark managed to carry him over to our window and handed him over to me. I picked him up and brought him into Mark’s apartment. The kid was wear diapers and he had a bloody foot. He looked to be about six years old. He was obviously a mentally challenged kid.
I took his hand and led him through the apartment and out the door. I hoped that he would lead me to his apartment so I could tell his mom about what happened. As we walk through the hallway I saw another kid. I ask the other kid, “Is this your little brother?”
The older kid said nothing; not even in Korean. He took the diapered child’s hand
and walked him to their apartment. The parents weren’t home. Mark came over. He had his co-worker on the phone to translate. We tried talking to the older brother, but he never spoke a word.Mark went downstairs to tell the building’s security guard what happen. I stayed upstairs. I tried to get the older brother to close the window in his apartment. He just stared at me blankly. I began to think that he too might be mentally challenged.
Then I noticed the diapered child climbing out the window again. I pushed the other boy out of the way; he was stand at the door. I ran over to the window and grabbed the younger kid. Then I locked the window myself.
Mark’s talk with the security guard didn’t go well. The guard thought he was reporting the kid as a peeping Tom. Even with the co-worker as a translator, he couldn’t make the security guard understand how dangerous the situation was. The guard just couldn’t be bothered.
When the mom finally came home we tried to talk to her. By this time we didn’t have a translator so we showed her the photos I had taken. She thanked us.
