I took a taxi all by myself!

Today was the most independent and effective (in terms of getting things done) day in Korea that I have had. I only had to go to school for a few minutes today to talk to the director so Sandra and her friend Sam and I went to lunch after and walked around Jeonju. I have finally taken some pictures!

This is in the middle of the city. It was a place where visiting royalty would stay when visiting Korea during a certain dynasty. I am not up on my Korean history, so I am not sure which dynasty that it was.

This is Sam at the Vietnamese restaurant where we had lunch today. He is doing the Korean hand gesture that is popular to do when taking pictures.
These three pictures are just pictures of some of the streets I was walking down. I find the last picture to be a good idea of how Western and Asian culture have come together in the city. Although you could count the number of Western stores on both hands, they are still mixed into the culture. These pictures were taken earlier in the day. Shortly after this, I bought an umbrella since it seems to rain almost every day even though it was a sunny and hot day today. Next is the weather about two hours later:

It is hard to see, but the rain is coming down in buckets. The rain can come out of no where in Korea, but I am glad that I had my new umbrella! The gateway above the street goes into a street market area where cars are not supposed to go, but people drive everywhere in Korea (even on the sidewalks)!

I had been trying to buy an adapter for my laptop in order to use it in Korea since it uses a different voltage. It was difficult to describe and took me hours and many kilometers walking, but I found a store that had what I needed! Someone in one store drew out directions for me to get to the store that I needed to go to on a map and then when I asked someone on the street if I was getting close (of course they didnt understand me), they walked with me to the store, which was very nice of him and took almost half an hour from when I first asked him. Best yet, my adapter cost only 3000 Won or around $3. And I can finally use my laptop! I am on it now! I have my first day of teaching classes by myself tomorrow so I am excited but nervous at the same time, but I am sure it will go well. I will try to take more pictures now that I am out and walking the streets of Jeonju on my own (and get some pictures of the girls for you Uncle Peter).