July 31st journal entry

Well we made it... a little tired and off track however. Right now it is 3:30 am AND I CAN'T SLEEP. The bed is hard, my pillow is huge and the air is hot and humid. I also took a 3 hour nap earlier that probably ruined any chance of a full night of sleep tonight. Anyhow, everyone else is managing to make it a couple more hours. Yesterday we all awoke betwen 4:00 and 5:00AM. Aisha found the stairs to the roof, right outside our bathroom. She woke up first and went up there to write in her journal. Robert and I woke up next and followed her up there. There is a lot of neon around. We live right in the city, in the thick of it all. Nothing is familiar, not the buildings, the faces, the smells or the air. Even the sky is different. We live right by the train station and behind the university. Right up the road, about a 5 minute walk up a hill, is the world's most traveled National Park. We walked to the entrance yesterday and discovered a Buddhist temple. It was really big and bold. I'll send pictures of the outside. We felt it would be disrespectful to take pics inside. Several women looked like they were preparng a meal inside and getting ready for a meditation session. I thought it was a bit strange that they had food in there; I won't even let my kids eat in the livivng room. So far these have been the only people who have smiled at us. Koreans are not so friendly yet.

Already we have had so many experiences that I won't bore you all with, but I really can't wait to begin teaching. At least that will be familiar. Thank God Aisha hasn't stopped acting like a teenager or I would really feel upside down. Yesterday we spent the morning searching for an adapter to recharge our computers so she could talk to her boyfriend. In none or phrase books does the word adapter exist, and it was quite an adventure. We ended up getting lost and really hungry, not a good combination combined with jet lag. Finally I took over and used my motherly GPS survival system and we found our way home. I also boldly went into a grocery store and bought whatever prepackaged meal a women in there was making, and some gatorade. They had an american food section, but I can't do Spam.

Anyhow, I should try to get back to sleep. I will send pictures tommorow. I love you all.

N

P.S. If you know of anyone who would like to be on my e-mailings, please forward. I cannot access my home computer from here and have lost some addresses.

P.S.S. I would love to hear from you.