Korea 2011_Saturday June 25th

Well the walls of our "home away from home" appear to be paper thin because at 4:30 am (UGH) guys next door were talking and the passcode locks were buzzing... so after hitting the bathroom we tried to go back to

sleep.. Skype call!  Marty!  She saw that my online light was on so she thought she would say hello!  ahhaha

We chit chatted a bit then went back to bed.. and
Skype call!  Paul and Pauline saw our skpe light was on they wanted to say hello also!!  Great technology to visit with siblings across the world! What a good conversation with Marty, Pauline,and Paul!

So got ready and experienced the shower again where no stall/door and water running onto floor into drain.. seems so odd! But it works..

Kelly, Melissa, and I walked to our favorite Korean McDonalds where we were able to enjoy a cup of coffee.  Kelly said that the young lady that waited on us was the same teenager as last year!!  I told Kelly that she probably remembers us too!  That American with his phrase book trying to say, "4 black coffees!  Ahahahhaha

It was a rainy ole morning.. A tropical storm has been forecasted for days and I would say it has arrived. We bought umbrellas at a local conveniencestore and returned to our hotel. Alan and Jeremiah were moving when we returned and so we all got ready and went over to Jeong Mi and Aaron's apartment where we had a nice visit and enjoyed a delicious breakfast!  Thanks Jeong Mi!

 A return trip to S Korea is not the same without a visit to the Lotte Mart.  We explored the three floors and checked out the merchandise. We all bought something interesting to eat. No, we did not buy Kimchi!
But they certainly had tons of it!

Upon returning to the hotel, Jeremiah, Melissa, and Alan headed out to explore the city a bit and get some lunch.  Kelly, Aaron, Jeong Mi, and I hailed a taxi and headed to the location of their wedding so we could preview a wedding going on there and get an idea of what we will be doing.

The rain continued to pour.. they had tents set up and the ceremony took place under a roof.. if the weather is nice for us Aaron and Jeong Mi will have their wedding in front of the temple. 

A "westerner" from Florida was marrying a Korean young lady so we enjoyed watching what they did.  The wedding coordinator urged us to eat heartily of the wedding buffet so we stayed and did just that!  Thought it was interesting when the fathers of the bride and groom were handed chickens (?)/hens (?)/roosters (?) and after some words were spoken tossed then into the air..something about long life and happiness?... anyway Aaron is excited that we may be doing that as well during his wedding ceremony!

We took a cab back to the hotel where we dried off and rested for an hour.  Then it was off to one of our favorite restaurants for grilling, eating, and celebrating.. there were 10 of us there and we toasted the soon-to-be bride and groom and just enjoyed visiting...

Then, since the baseball game had been canceled due to the rain, we headed across the street to a Noribong (Karaoke Singing Room) where the 10 of us sang and laughed and enjoyed the evening.  

After our singing time ended, we slopped through the rain and the wind and returned to our hotel room to get rested for the "big day" on Sunday, June 26th, 2011:  Aaron's birthday and wedding day!  

Enjoy the rest of the day's pictures here:  https://picasaweb.google.com/embruckart/Korea2011_6252011#5622143305916695282