Sightseeing and spending time with friends...

So my trip is slowly coming to and end I am becoming very sad. I moved out of my dorm and off campus on Saturday and I was so sad to leave. I loved living on campus. My room was really small but I still will miss it.

My last week is really crazy busy and I am seeing all my friends and sightseeing as much as I can. There are a lot of palaces to see here in Seoul so I went to see one near my hotel. 

I walked by the front one day and there are guards that stand there, very still. They do not move and people just stand next to them and take pictures. I think it is like the changing of the guards in England.

These guys stood like this and didn't move. I was really impressed. This was in front of the main gate.

Inside there were many buildings and was quite beautiful to see it. Many of the palaces were burned or destroyed by the Japanese when they kept invading Korea. But some were left and it was very cool to see the architecture of the old days.

I went with some of my friends to the Hangang river. It was a beautiful day and night and there were so many people here. The views were amazing here. 

We just hung out by the river and waited for it to get dark, and then just watched the city light up. Amazingly there weren't that many boaters out in the river, but just a lot of people coming here to hang out at night.

We went to a norabang, which is like Karaoke. In Korea, there are a lot of these and we went and sang songs and hung out. I sang some old school songs and my friends sang too. It was a lot of fun.

They had all languages, so if any of you wanted to come here and do it in Korea, you can! We went to Apojan, south of the the Hangang river. This area is really nice and expensive and apparently where the celebrities hang out. But I didn't see any. 

We went out for drinks and then drank Soju all night. I also got a chance to go to a club here in Hongik and that was interesting. It just like the clubs in the U.S. I met some more people and we all went out for a birthday celebration.

I got a chance to meet a lot of people this weekend and a lot of Koreans from the states and France. There are a lot here that come to Korea and work and study.

My hotel is near City Hall and I was shopping one day and noticed there was something going on. It was some kind of chili pepper festival and they had some beauty competition. I couldn't help myself and I had to watch for a little while. 

There were girls in traditional clothing as well, they were all quite beautiful. I couldn't understand what was going on of course but it was kind of cool to watch. 

City hall is the building behind this giant Korean flag. The flag actually rolls alway but today it was spread out. It is really cool. The flag is made of tiles and is like a giant metal curtain that surrounds the front of city hall.  So I only have a few days left in Korea and am doing a lot in the short time I have left. I don't want to leave, but I suppose all good things must come to and end!