Korea , more to come, read from the bottom up~~~

Living in korea is expensive, but as a travelling/shopping destination, not too bad…transportation is not a problem, they have a very complicated and detailed subway system. You can literally get to anywhere within Seoul by subway. It is usually cost around $0.90 - $1.20 USD to go one way, depends on how far you go. And as long as you are not in rush hours (7am-9am, 6pm-7:30pm), the subway is not crowded at all. In the subway, they always save 12 seats for elderly, children, sick, and pregnant women. No matter how crowded the subway is, those seats are always open. My friends told me, watch out the middle aged housewives in the subway. They usually rushed in first try to save seats, no rules on that…my friend described it as like American football ^o^. They sometimes throw their bag across the air try to occupy the seat first. Too bad I haven’t seen any crazy lady this time…
The weekend that I was in Korea was a traditional festival time, it is called Dano in Korean. It is a seasonal festival that is the fifth day of the fifth month by the lunar calendar. We have the same holiday in China, but apparently a little different way to celebrate it. Korean people believed that Yang (from Ying-yang, brightness) energy reaches the highest level on Dano. In korea, Dano is truly a holiday, people celebrate it by playing on high swing rides, watch performances on stage, and ssireum (Korean wrestling). It used to be one of the 3 biggest festivals celebrated in Korea. Because of this, I had the opportunity to watch a traditional korean clothes fashion show. The models are too pretty so that at the end of the show, I dragged my friend to the backstage and hoped to take pic with the models…my friend wasn’t even expect that would happen, but it did!!!
In general, I like Seoul. Even though it is expensive, but people are friendly, and fun to watch. Stuff here are cute, and food, very healthy! If I really end up working in China, korea wouldn’t be a bad place to get away. Only 90 minutes to get to, no passport needed as long as I get out in 30 days, and I only plan to spend a weekend here every once in a while. Young people now speaks very good english. I met couple students from Seoul National University (no.1 university in Korea), and because they want to practice English, they asked if they can tag alone with me and my friend (we were talking in English in the subway, later on that day I learned that those students heard us talking, and thought that I was Korean who were raised in America…) Anyway, they were not Seoul natives, which means it is extra hard for them to get into any Seoul university. Now they are master and ph.D students in Chemical Engineering dept, and hoping to study abroad someday. They knew a lot about Korean culture and history (from passing the college entrance exam…), so they were happy to serve as tour guides for the day. Showed me a lots of places. Their original plan was to take some pictures in the nice weather, photography is their hobbit (which by the way, it is a trend in Asia now to have a fancy professional camera…) Anyway, quite an unique experience. At first I thought they were stalkers…:p but end up they are very very friendly and funny students. If they really send me the pic they took as they promised when we separate, I will post the pictures they took on the blog so you don’t think that I am lying…
Another thing amazes me is that girls/women drinks as well in korea. I know American women drinks too, but Korean women drinks for social. You can see girls at dinner table each one holding a beer jug. To me, it was a weird scene, maybe because I don’t see a lots of women drinks at Northgate…I mean, at least not the way I see korean women drinking...it's just weird for me to see women drinking period...especially holding beer jugs and/or soju (rice drink, about 15-20% alcohol)