and monkey, too

to make my adventures in korea even more entertaining, i've brought along my friend, monkey, to serve as my sidekick and yes, also as my model. i'm shameless. and he loves it. i realized this morning that monkey doesn't have a proper name. i've simply called him monkey, well, because he is simply a monkey. if you have any fun and fitting name ideas, by all means, please share your suggestions.

during the layover from japan to korea, i met another traveler. her name is andrea who is from columbus, ohio. she's in korea visiting her friend from college too. lots of that happening 'roud these parts. we meandered through the airport, discussed our travel plans, and shared laughs about the toilets in the ladies room. i love japanese inventions. the tiolet--you'll see by the photo--has buttons on the side that can spray water for your specific parts and then, get this, a flushing sound which can be increased or decreased in volume! so for those who are uncomfortable during bm's or, are feeling particularly self conscious, just play the flushing sound, LOUD! and you'll be alright. everyone will know exactly what you are doing, but, hey, that's okay!




andrea mentioned how much she loves sushi so when we saw a sushi restaurant, literally seconds after her declaration, we treated ourselves to a fresh roll. the staff at the restaurant were such a friendly bunch! i ordered a cali cali roll which was divine. a yummy party in my mouth after eating blah blah airplane food. the chef even gave me more pickled ginger after i devoured my plate clean. so nice. so thoughtful. we chatted with our waiter, who showed us in japanese, the words: love, heart and friend. andrea has a tattoo of "love" on her back and she wanted verification from a respectful source that her tattoo does in fact say, love. it does. our waiter, has "heart" tattooed on his back. man. i was the odd one out. i apparently did not get that memo.

the world really is small, folks. check it: turns out that andrea's friend, cory, lives in the same part of seoul as theresa! say, like 5 blocks away. what?!?! once we claimed our baggage and went through customs, we found cory (i had to deflect the men who kept asking us where we were going and if we needed cabs. my korean was, i'm sure, very american-accented but i was happy that it was understood!) and all rode the bus to coex--a humungous shopping/convention center which i'm sure i'll see soon--where theresa met us. it is soooooo wonderful to see theresa!!! the last time we saw each other was during her whirlwind usa tour about 6 months ago. we were in baltimore with her friend, annie, and we went to a great dive bar--shoot! the name of that escapes me now.--and drank beer with peanuts and sang karaoke. hmm, perhaps that was a sign of things to come?! i do look forward to belting out tunes in noh-reh bangs (singing rooms) here. koreans take their karaoke very seriously and so will i!

theresa lives with her older sister (she has two, she lives with clara, coec lives in nyc) in a lovely apt that is definitely urban and very ikea meets korea=korikea. yes. clean lines and smooth surfaces. i already like it here. clara is away for work, so, i'm very lucky to use her space in her absence. i slept like a champ last night but woke up in the middle of my sleep, disorientated. i thought i was back home, and was confused when i didn't recognize the wall. oh yes! i'm not in baltimore, i'm in korea! i shifted, and fell back asleep, comforted that my confusion was sorted out.

**a call for help!** i'm not terribly computer savvy, but i do know the basic functions. unfortunately, my computer is not recognizing the dsl/ethernet cord and so i get no internet. wtf?! (i'm using theresa's for now, but, i'd like to get my own internet access up and running--and i know korea is all about it so i'm a bit puzzled to this inability.) anyone have any ideas or projections about this issue? let me know if you discover any clues that may help me solve this mystery. much appreciated.

i'm going to keep it local today and meander around theresa's neighborhood. i'm also going to hop into a coffee shop and see if i can connect to the net, via wireless. ooh i hope so!