We've had quite a weekend. Friday night, one of the professors in Doug's department took us to an incredible buffet at a five star hotel, not far from campus. I don't think I've ever seen so much food.Tables and tables and tables of things known and unknown. We spent almost four hours there and tried everything from "sea squirt" to seaweed. Doug finally broke down and had a piece of steak, but generally, the fare was pretty unfamiliar. Per usual, everyting is so elegantly displayed, it all LOOKS wonderful. But you know the old saying..."Looks can be ...." In any case, we had a very entertaining evening.
Saturday morning, we hopped on a bus and headed out into the unknown once again. Originally, in search of a church that had English speaking services, we ended up at the big science museum here in Daejeon where we spent the greater part of the afternoon and early evening. Capping off the day with a gelato (not AS good as Italy, but not bad for Korea) we ended the day with three games of "Ticket to Ride" and then to bed.
This morning - Palm Sunday - we ventured out again and attended services at the Christian International School in Daejeon - a fifty minute bus ride from Chungnam U. A bit different than wat we're used to, but the common thread is there and we were warmly welcomed. After church, we hopped back on the bus and headed off for "Timeworld / Galleria" - an upscale - VERY UPSCALE - shopping experience. I've been to Bloomingdales and Sachs Fifth Ave. in New York, but they pale in comparison. Everything is so perfectly and beautifully displayed, I've just never seen anything like it. If clothing is folded - it's folded perfectly. If it's hanging. it's evenly spaced between pieces. Nothing is crowded. Everything is color-coordinated. A rack of blouses looks like a piece of art.We took pictures but you just can't imagine. The floors are so shiny, you can see your reflection. And, as you can imagine, the prices are as out of this world as the store itself. Twelve huge floors of every high end designer I've ever heard of and, it was packed with people. WE ate at the "Burger King" in the food court there (the 11th floor sported higher end restaurants) and spent the entire afternoon gawking. Foolishly thinking we could pick up a few items before heading home, we wondered into the grocery department - basement level. It was there we spotted it...a pound of organic butter...$28.00!!! Then, right down the isle...a small, and I repeat, small , musk mellon - price...$32.00. (It was hardly bigger than a softball!) Such an adventure.
We left Timeworld and trekked to Emart (where butter is only $7.00 ) bought what we needed, and taxied home.
The sun was just starting to set when we got back to the dorm, so we dropped off our purchases and decided to see if we could locate the public "hot springs foot bath spa" which is located about 1 to 2 miles from campus. We did find the spa which, among other things, claims to be good for rheumatism, obesity,
women's sickness, skin care, diabetes, and, (I love this one)
chronic intoxication. There, along with a lot of Koreans, we soaked our weary feet for about 30 minutes in water that was hot, hot, hot. We now know that when we return, we need to find a spot f - a - r away from the spot where the water flows out of the ground. It was really hot. We have high expectations for the results of our 30 minute soak - We'll keep you informed.
