The importance of a single letter

We had an adventure last week in Seoul that we haven't had time to write about...so here goes.

Last weekend we came into Seoul with the other native teachers. We were trying to get to Seoul Foreign School to stay with our friend that night. We had been there by taxi before but not the subway. We knew we had to get to Sinchon and that we could walk from the metro station to the school. Unfortunately, we were exhausted and picked the ticket for Sincheon and took that metro to that station. We come up from the underground, walked around for a bit, then decided (still not knowing we were at the wrong stop) to take a taxi to the school thinking it would be around 3,000 won and less than 10 minutes(about $2.50). We jump in and show him where we need to go - we should have seen the money signs in his eyes.

As we're driving along, we're thinking 'oh crap, something's not right here.' We then see the Olympic Park which we know is not even close to the school. Also, we should have taken the subway over the river...so as we're approaching the river, I realize we have made a huge traveling mistake. Finally, I take the tour book from Tim and realize we went to Sincheon instead of Sinchon - they are on complete opposite sides of the city!!!!!!!! So, we learned that missing one letter can cost you 20,000 won and 45 minutes in a cab.

Not only am I upset by this traveling blunder - then something else happens that made me believe Tim was some kind of double agent. Let me say that neither of us spoke any Korean. So imagine my surprise when the taxi driver says something in Korea and Tim responds also in Korea. At that time, I just looked out the window and comtemplated the possibility that Tim had a second, secretive life I had never been aware of. I felt like I was in the car with Jason Bourne. Whenever I bring this up, Tim just smiles and shrugs. Hmmmm.....still contemplating the possibility - if it's true, at least I'm the "sexy sidekick" kind of girl that always travels with James Bond!!


Well, we're off to the beach tomorrow so we probably won't be in contact with anyone for a couple of days. We're so excited. Best of all, we're going to the DMZ on Friday! We've been looking forward to that the most. We promise more pictures!!


Sarang hae yo! (I love you!)

Alaina and Tim