I will begin from the end of our day first since it was the most exciting.
While we were shopping down Itaewon Street this afternoon, we had gone in shop after shop after shop. Everyone had a deal - much like Chinatown in NYC.
This gentleman named Bob was standing on the street inviting us to come downstairs to his shop and he would make us some shoes. We politely told him no, that we didn't need any shoes. He continued to ask us to just come down and take a look even as we continued to tell him no.
I had remembered Woody having shoes custom made while he had been here before and so I turned back and looked at him and said, "Can we just go look?" He gave us the okay so Ellie and Emma and I followed him downstairs to look at his shoes.
He kept inviting us to sit down. His wife was sitting in the corner and she kept holding her hand out and patting the chair beside her. I looked up and Woody was coming down the stairs. He motioned for him to come in the little shop too.
As I approached Bob's wife, I looked down on the small table and saw what I thought to be a Bible. I asked her, "Are you a Christian?" She started grinning from ear to ear. "Yes," she said. Bob almost fell all over us. He was so proud to tell us that they were both Christians. They had accepted Christ 35 years ago. We chatted for about ten minutes. He showed us pictures of the Army Chaplains who he knew and the card of a chaplain taped to the inside of his Bible. He had been given the Bible, which had the Korean translation on the left-hand side of the page and the English translation on the right-hand side, by a Chaplain. He said he reads it in both languages.
Bob told us his wife, who did not speak great English, is a deacon in their Presbyterian Church and that he is an Elder. They drive two hours to go to church.
After I persuaded him that I did not need any custom-made shoes, we said our pleasantries and we began to leave. As I was leaving, I turned around and asked him if we could pray with them. Oh, was he so excited. He said something to his wife in Korean, she jumped up out of her chair and they both held out their hands. We gathered around the room all holding hands as I said a prayer for their faith, the boldness of reading their Bible in public in their store, and for the chance we got to share our faith with them. What a blessing it was for all of us.
We agreed that we would see each other one day in Heaven.
After we left Emma and Ellie both kept saying, "Mama, I'm so glad we decided to walk down the stairs with him. If we hadn't, we'd have missed out on something special."
We slept in this morning until 9:15 and made it downstairs before breakfast was over at 10:00. It was raining so we gave it time to clear out before we tried our luck at the Seoul subway system.
Woody had really wanted to see one of the palaces. The girls did not particularly want to go, but they new in order to go shopping, they had to please Papa san.
We managed to have a successful trip on the subway with only two stops to the palace. We arrived just in time for the changing of the guard, which was a lot of fun, and only 15 minutes to wait until they had an English tour.
After visiting the palace, we took the subway back to Iteawon Street for shopping and something to eat. We had seen an Outback Steakhouse the day before and planned our day around making it back there for dinner.
It became a joke to Ellie and me about how long we had to hold our breath in some of the shops. As we were shopping late afternoon, many of the shopkeepers were having their dinner while sitting waiting for customers. The smell of Korean food in a small cubicle was not especially appetizing.
I should probably be embarrassed to come back home having not eaten one local dish, but I shall not be concerned. There was no way I was going to make my children eat anything that I wouldn't touch.
We're all packed and ready to move tomorrow. We're going to have a spa morning here at the hotel and then move to a hotel at the airport. Our flight out is at 9 a.m. and international flights have a 2-hour period for check-in before the flight. Since our hotel is an hour away, we decided it would be better not to have to get up at 4 a.m. to get to the airport.
Having a great time, but looking forward to our arrival back home!!
1st gate into the king's palace.
Changing of the guard.
The king's meeting space
The king's "party house." This is where he entertained important people. Not a bad place to visit.
Another look inside his personal space.
ceiling of one of the rooms
For 60 won you can have this cute little Coke
Another view from inside the chambers
If you walk under this gate, you will not get old nor die. I don't THINK so.
These two precious sisters were taking a picture near us.
The one on the left, who is 11, introduced herself in perfect English. The one on the right spoke very well, but was a little more shy. The girls enjoyed so much having a slightly animated conversation with them.
When it was over, you could hear both sets of sisters giggling and talking in their native tongue about the experience.
Our first spotting of orange crocs. At least hers
match her outfit!!
Chicken Nuggets at Last!!!!!
Ribeye and a sweet potato.
The many shops of Itaewon Street
She gives new meaning to the phrase, "We deliver."
We sat down and six little ladies rushed in talking
