July 6,

The last day of my tour. We had a boat ride, and fed seagulls the way to Incheon. Another Duty free shop with lots of things to buy (I think I joined the shopping tour by accident =P) After saying goodbye, the tourguide helped me find the bus to take back to Korea University where Jinhee's roomate would pick me up. I wanted to make sure she told the driver to tell me when to get off, so she seemed a bit frantic. Luckily this guy said he would exit that stop too. He sat with me the way back and we chatted a lot in English, he seemed more American than Korean to me. His English is good because he lived in India for many years. It was really fun chatting with him, I found out he has an identical twin too (and he claims to be the cooler twin). He kept on commenting on his lacking shaving skills, even with an electric shaver he was like bleeding, and he kept asking if it was still bleeding...haha... He also said he had met many Canadians. Did I mention that he is a Hot guy? My brother would like to hear that and he studies accounting too even though he thinks its boring. What my brother would not like to hear is... he has a girlfriend that he just saw off at the airport because she has to go to Russia for a month =) What was cute was, his girl called him from the airport and he kept saying sorry, and if it was okay to answer, haha was I supposed to say no? So i had to keep saying its ok and telling him to go ahead. At the bus stop we got off, but I couldnt see my ride. At first he said he had a problem waiting there (I thought it was because he was late for class), but it turned out to be that his cellphone was busted and we couldnt use it to call (only the buttons for 123 worked). We decided to wait a bit and took a picture because his friend walked by. Then we decided that we should go into Korea University (most famous) because it was hot outside and call from a payphone. The campus is really beautiful. I got to use the computer for a bit and then my ride came. James was 30 mins late for class because he was sweet, he helped me carry my bag out to the car, are all Koreans such gentlemen to strangers? =) *sigh* I remember on the plane this Korean dude helped me with my bag without being asked either. Then I said "Kamza Hamnida" as he walked back in the building. Even Jinhee's roomate said he was Hot. =)

That day I just rested and then had dinner with Chan. It was funny because he was supposed to call the dorm, but I never received a call. Then he called Jinhee and she said she disconnected the line (even though she kept telling me to wait for Chan's call) haha... so he ended up salling through the window for me, reminds me of how Auntie Paula used to be called out of her dorm. Met CHan's friend Christina, whoe just came back from Paris (she is the odd Korean that loves France more than Korea) Then we had dinner with Chan's band members and went to a bar and night club. They were really nice to chat with me in English, Lenny knows some Chinese too. And it is true that night clubs are more healthy in Korea. There were people there at 10 and we left at 1130 to get home before 12.

June 30, Thursday

After a night of packing and lack of sleep, I woke up at 9 to go with Ankie to Jimmy's house. He wanted to prepare breakfast for me. It was so sweet because he made mashed potatoes, my favorite! And he started preparing the night before too. After breakfast, I had to continue to pack and so I went back to the dorm. Mamadou came to say bye at my dorm. Then I met up with Jimmy and Ankie at the bus stop because they would escort me to the airport. The bus took over and hour. When we got there, I was a bit early and so we had some food in the food court. Julie was there with her parents, it was a coincedence. After some lunch and ice cream, I went in the gate. It was really sad, in a weird way because I would come back to Taiwan for 2 nights and see her, but I knew it wouldnt be as before, like coming back to the room and being able to chat with her all night.

In Seoul, Chan's hot friend helped guide me to take the bus, I was dumb and came out the wrong gate because I had no luggage to pick up, so I just exited the nearest gate =S Chan waited for me at the bus stop and took me to his school KAIST research division in Seoul. In the Atrium, we had wine and cheese with Helen and TeSok. We just chatted about life recently. Then I joined Jinhee for some crazy KTV with her friends because it was her year end party. They danced and sang like crazy. They only sang fast songs and they had great voices. So tired by 4am, when I slept in the same bed as Jinhee, I didnt move the whole night, cuz she had to work the next day and I am sure she would feel so exhausted from sharing the bed.

July 1,

I had lunch with Chan and his wife and son after a tour of his school. We had Kalbi, BBQ beef. It was a really nice restaurant that had free toothbrushes in the washroom, Koreans love to brush their teeth. We went shopping at Myeong Dong after, and the shops were all very nice, and the prices were similar to Canada. I did some shopping, but I would go broke to shop here. Dinner was with Jinhee and Helen at a traditional Korean restaurant. There was even performances of Korean songs and stories with some drums. The dinner had so many little dishes! Then we went up a mountain for some night views and coffee. The tower was being removated and so we couldnt go up. The Seoul view was nice, many tall buildings everywhere, with gleaming lights.


July 2,

Jinhee takes me for some toast breakfast, then to the bus stop. We just missed the one I was supposed to catch, but another came at 11. I just made it to the airport at 1230, and luckly the tour had not exited the gate yet. I met the tour and we started off with lunch at a nice hot pot place. I met Judy and Eagle and they became my food partners because others were usually in pairs or 4's and I was alone. The nice owner talked to me in English, and was very interested that I was from Canada. Then we saw some old buildings and a calligraphy exhibition. Shopping was at Insadong for souvenirs and then Itaewon where there are many foreigners. Then dinner was Ginseng chicken and liquor and shopping at Dongdaemun, where there were live performances infront of the malls filled with so many stores.

July 3,
Chinese style breakfast, sang songs in the bus, went to DaChangGum outdoor set where they made the tv series. Chicken stirfry with rice, Nami Island (where Winter Sonata was filmed) a very romantic island. Dinner was BBQ pork, then we went to Vivaldi resort (ski and golf resort) to sleep.

July 4,
Resort breakfast, Walkerhill Casino, Everland theme park, walked around with Ivy and Eagle and went on some rides. There were chickens running around the park freely with little chicks,,, sooo cute. Also saw a Liger, which is a Tiger and Lion crossbred. Carribean Bay was cool, and it was my first time on a 3 story water slide that gave me a giant wedgie...ouch. Then the wave pool had these giant waves that were so freaky as you saw it coming. Sometimes the water doesnt seem so powerful when just looking at it... Dinner was from Family Mart outside the theme park. Night was spent walking around Everland and watching fireworks, and riding a ferris wheel.

July 5,
Resort breakfast again. Went to take pictures dressed in traditional Korean clothing, that was so easy to put on =P Then we made our own kimchi, actually we just put the premade sauce in the presoaked lettuce and wrapped it up. The ginseng store was nice and expensive, but since my parents use some Korean Ginseng already, I thought it would be a nice souvenir for them. Lunch was at a hotpot stone pot rice place. The rice was really good with the chilli paste. Next stop, another shopping place, the amethyst store (but too lady-like for me) After some dinner we watched a short traditional Korean show with drums and crazy head twirling.

Tuesday 28th,
took train back to Taichung then Taipei after some Grandaunts breakfast, mmm. I had to pick up my air tickets from the travel agency, so it was hectic. I tried to come back around 4pm for tea with Samul (IMBA director and Mirjam, but I ended up getting back at 5pm. They were still there, and so we chat until 6. Samul kept making fun of how I looked very young, and was interested to know how the program could be improved. I gave him my opinion on some hardships I faced in the beginning with course selection, and he assured me that my issues would be solved for the future. And next semester, there will be a lot more undergraduate exchange students, unlike this term where there was only me.

Wednesday 29th,
I saw Mirjam off at 7am, her taxi came to pick her up. It was sad, I could really see how she would really miss Taiwan, she met a lot of old Chinese guys that were so sweet to her. Since she is attracted to older Asian guys, Asia is perfect for her =) On the road to buy breakfast, I bumped into my Excel Prof, and gave him my name card. It was nice to see him again before I left. My fairwell dinner that night was at SEED, just on the street off campus. Ankie, Joseph, Hugo, Matt, Anson, Candy, Raymond were at my fairwell dinner. It was yummy chicken, cheesefilled =P We chilled at the IMBA lounge one last time, and said good bye. But dinner was kind of awkward because it was difficult to grasp what atmosphere it was supposed to be. Jokes didnt seem to be funny, but it wasnt supposed to be a sad mood. I dunnos *sigh* At 12am, the "creepy" guy that I met before wanted to say bye to me because he could not come to dinner. I thought he was creepy because everytime I saw him, he would kind of silently appear and just say "hi" and "bye", his English was that bad. But I knew he was nice, its just that everytime I saw him it was the similar situation that freaked me out. That night I invited my roomate to come too to meet him. He stood outside holding a box, a cake was inside. It was funny because in the end, I realized that he was the sweetest guy. I felt so bad that I only had a creepy thought of him in my mind. We spoke in Chinese and he made all these funny jokes. Ex) I asked him why he baught me cake, and he said he thought if others brought something, he would look stupid if he didnt, then he said he baught the most expensive cake, and when I sais "Oh how sweet" he said "it's actually because I went to the bakery late and they only had this left". I dunnos, everything he said that night made us laugh and it was a fun night. He asked me to give him a English name, and all I could think of was Mann (his name that I refered to in my mind, even though it wasnt his name), Harry, Henry and Gary. Ankie pointed out that Gary sounded like gay and harry put together...haha... I brought up Jay, and then he said "oh thats a great name it is easy to spell, J" hahahaha...Then I pointed out Winston, which is a nice name. The guy liked it too, but then when I told him I thought of a tall, athletic guy when I heard of the name Winston, he said "it is better that he have a name that people wont be dissapointed at when they actually meet him" hehe... so in the end, we thought up Tim. It's a nice name for him. Tim is a caring and innocent guy. I wish I got to know him better. If only he stopped trying to speak English to me and just spoke chinese, I would have been able to communicate with him better. There is always Skype...and I will try to help him practice his English.

Saturday, June 25.

So sad to see Tung off after lunch. We had this giant backpack and when you looked at him you could only see his legs from the back. Tung, my gege (big bro) from Finland can do crazy stunts. I think, one day he will be some CEO. His martial art skills are so good. Visit www.tungbui.com and watch his crazy videos =) I teared up watching Tung get into the car =( Then I got in that really sad mood and headed to church. It is always a surprise for me what the program is for fellowship. No one was there yet and so I just practiced a bit of piano. Then others came and they said that today they would just practice some songs because they will start a band to perform for the church soon. I played some piano for them (even though it was all wrong) and got to listen to a beautiful flute and voices. It was really soothing to be there. After that I had to meet up with Ankie, my cousin and his gf. We went to Warner Village to watch Initial D (starring Jay Chou). Surprisingly, the movie was funny and we had a good time watching it. After than we went to Room18, along with Sean. The place was crowded, so it was hard to dance. But it was so funny watching my cousin dance =) After that Sean and Donovan had some strange conversation and made them so friendly with each other. Donovan said that Sean and I match each other. Umm....No... =) Donovan and his gf gave me a bobble head Winnie the Pooh and mirror box as a fairwell gift. sad sad =(

Sunday
I woke up early to get to the train station. I met Auntie Paula at the Taichung train station where she brings in McDs to eat. We continue on to Chiayi (Ankie's hometown) and meet my cousin-uncle. We take a bus up Ali Shan. We take a stroll outside in the rain and saw a few giant trees. We had some traditional dinner, like wild boar. I was so tired, and we all slept around 9pm.

Monday, woke up at 3:30 AM to start our tour ti see the sunrise. The hotel owner insisted that he would give us a better tour because he would tell us more about the sites, rather than just take us there to see the views. Our first stop was the Sea of Clouds. It was amazing as the sunlight was lighting up the sky, to see the clouds below the mountians like the ocean. And you can see so far out into the vast space. *Ah* =) God's creation Sunrise was on the highway with all the other tourists, but the sun had already been out for so long. It was blinging to watch, we had to have these think plastic protectors. I guess its not really a sunrise, its just the sun rising from the highest mountain =P We saw a monkey family by the road, and they were sooooo cute and playful. But the one that we saw later on that stole my aunts Wasabi stick was not cool. He ripped open the tube and ate some, but I guess he didnt like it because he threw it away. I was lucky because when my aunt saw the monkey, she first asked me if I wanted to take a picture close to it. Luckily I hestitated, else the monkey may have eaten my camera and thrown it down the mountain. Then we walked around the forest where there were trees over 1000 years old. The famous one where 18 people could wrap their arms around the circumference had already fallen. I felt so small in that giant forest. Lunch was down the mountain at a train station, where the speacialty was lunch box. I also had a braised egg that had been hardened so long it shrank and became black. It was hard to chew, but tasted ok though. Back in Chiayi, my grandaunt made us some snacks. She is a really sweet lady and a great cook. Dinner was at a Cantonese DIm Sum place. Then at night her eldest son took us to a nice cafe overlooking run yi tang (a pond) and we had drinks. We sat on the rooftop and watched lightning for 30 mins, but luckily the storm was not coming our direction yet. The owner even gave us some mangos he grew by the side ot the place. Chiayi is a nice place to retire.