The Seoul purpose of this trip...

hahaha. get it? sole, seoul? oh man.

Okay, so I'm super tired now, but here's a quick synopsis of Day numero uno in Seoul:

-Met with the sweetest woman, a woman with whom the Academy works. It was a work meeting, but we hit it off really well and she was just so kind. Gave me tons of advice for my trip here (good food, where to do the best shopping, historic and government sites to visit, etc.), and took me out for a bombdiggity lunch. The stove is built right into the table, so raw meat, onions, and mushrooms are brought to your table and you put them onto the burner (the table's sunken in where the burner is) and cook them yourself. No oil, just fresh meat/ veg. Sweet soup (sweet potato and rice), mashed pumpkin, cold noodles, kimchi (water + spicy), sliced hot peppers, sauteed greens, and salad were all sides. THEN they brought us more soup at the end. I was way too full at the end of the meal. I may meet up with this woman again for a concert Saturday night.

-The fruit here is so good. As part of my room upgrade I got a fruit plate delivered to my room. Ate an apple for breakfast and it was the largest, crispest apple I've had in a long time (thinking of you, Betsy!!!). Plus a sweet, juicy clementine. Fruit's a big deal here, often taking the place of a baked good/ candy dessert. I most certainly don't mind.

-As I was working out this morning (in, might I add, the nicest gym I've ever been in) I look out upon a temple and a massive Buddhist statue. So tonight after another meeting, I decided to explore, not even originally intending to see said statue. Well, I walk RIGHT across from my hotel and come across the most brilliant display of mums (chrysanthemums) I've ever seen. It looked like something straight out of Alice in Wonderland or something. The flowerpots were arranged in swirls and stacked in rows. I'm going to try to figure out uploading pics tomorrow so I can show you because it is really something else. The whole flower display (there must have been tens of thousands of mums there) led up to a temple whose entire ceiling was covered with white Chinese lanterns. Really magical looking. There were candles and incense lit, and it was very spiritual. People bowed deeply in front of all the statues, and the mood was serious and respectful.

After I wandered the grounds a bit more and saw some monks, a huge tiled area for outdoor meditation (extra cushions were stored so you could meditate whenever you want), and some more temples, I heard chanting. I looked around and saw that one of the temples had a meditation being led by a monk. The place was pretty packed, probably 50 people worshipping. I don't know what caused me to go in, but I just went in, got a cushion, and sat in a seated yoga position. This is a little personal, but I think it's worth sharing to demonstrate the environment in which I found myself... I lost it. I just became so overwhelmed by the beauty everywhere, the power of the voices chanting, the feeling that so many things in my life had clicked together and I was exactly where I was for a reason, that tears just started flowing and flowing. I wasn't sad by any means, I was more happy and just experiencing so many emotions at once. I bought and framed a card last year that had a quote on the front that read, "You are exactly where you should be. You are doing exactly what you should be doing." I couldn't get that line out of my head throughout the whole practice. I stayed for the rest of the meditation, which was 45 minutes (the whole thing had been an hour, but I had stumbled in late). I know to some that may sound really cheesy, and it's a little strange to share, but there was something so immensely unique and beautiful about the whole evening there.

-On a much lighter note, the tea that's drunk here is a brown rice/ green tea and it's super yummy.

Okay, time for some sleep! Korea's in the same time zone as Japan, so I'm still 13 hours ahead of you East Coasters.

love- court.