Happy Lunar New Year!!!

Well, as the eve of the Lunar New Year approaches, and things slow down tremendously in the city, Rachel and I have been taking this last week and a half to do...absolutely nothing. Since Chris left last Wednesday, we've been relaxing and taking it pretty easy. Because of the upcoming holiday (Thursday is the big day), Seoul is very quiet. This morning it took all of 3 minutes to get onto post, and that includes two left turns! Left turns are notoriously a pain in the butt in Korea, because you have to wait for an arrow-there is no turning on a green light, even if there is absolutely no one coming. And most arrows are only about 3 cars long, unless every car in front of you is doing a U-turn instead, and then maybe 1 car will make it through. Aarrggh! But this morning, we coasted through both lights, onto post, and were into the parking lot at 7:25 a.m. So Rachel and I grabbed some breakfast at the Dragon (Dragon Hill Lodge is the hotel right across from the school). Tomorrow should be even better, and I'm tempted to say I could leave 10 minutes before school starts and still get there on time! But enough about that-no one else will understand how nice that is, so there's no point in boring you.
Rachel had quite a day on Saturday-she spent 4 hours at the Hyundai Department Store working for a modeling agency. She and another model were advertising the new Tommy Hilfigger store at the COEX mall (old COEX pics on our website here). They dressed her in Tommy clothes, and she passed out free mouse pads, phone straps, and other stuff to shoppers. Lots of people wanted their pictures taken with Rachel, as you can imagine. It's not often you see a super-tall blonde girl (plus heels) , and guys and girls were eager to pose with her. The pay wasn't too shabby either-Rachel made close to what amounted to $35 an hour. 150,000 won for 4 hours work. And she had fun! A few more Saturdays like this, and she'll have put quite a dent in her tuition for the fall (or summer).
In other less consequential news- I am now a yellow belt! Yes, I finally learned my first form, and am currently learning the next- Taeguk 1. Once you get the hang of it, it isn't too hard. I am still horrible at balance. Some days I am great, and feel like a pro. Other days, I almost fall down with some of the easiest kicks! I don't know what it is...must be an inner ear thing! Ha ha.
Well, I have about 10 minutes before I head back to school to pick Rachel up. We're going grocery shopping at the commissary! Whoohoo. Exciting. I'm telling you, the moment Chris leaves, the girls really know how to party (sarcasm implied there, if you didn't catch it). But before I go, I have to give Ozzy some lovin'-otherwise he'll make me pay later on!
Love to all...have a wonderful Mardi Gras and Lunar New Year!