At First Glance

So here is a brief (and fuzzy) tour of some of the sites we have discovered in our first weekend here in Seoul.
Here are Jamie and Brian walking up the very steep mountain path at the end of our street. There are many trees and pleasant trails, and at the very summit - yes, it's exercise equipment.
Here are some ajummas exercising in their masks, visors, and patterned leisure pants in the inappropriately named "Grandmother Rest Area."

Here is the Grandfather Rest Area where the old fellows may pick flowers or lift barbells, however they prefer to relax.
Here is one of the barefoot walking trails, complete with diagram of how and why it will invigorate you - I only made it four steps before my shoes went back on. Pain more that relaxation I'd say.

Here we are at our closest shopping: Kim's Club. It is in the bottom of a department store (New Core) and seems to have many things we need. At 12:00 the place filled up with hundreds of young ladies wearing short shirts and white leggings who positioned themselves at the end of every aisle and began encouraging shoppers to sample and buy their particular products. We did pretty well for our first organized grocery shop, but no joy finding frozen vegetables and the corn-on-the-cob we bought proved, once husked, to be white and hard as a rock. We have no idea what it could be for, but it was certainly not food.

Here are some of the well-dressed Seoulites we saw on our palace excursion.

This, by contrast, is how Brian and I were attired. Oh well.

Here is our very extensive underground market where we can remedy our sartorial missteps.

There is English everywhere. Here, for example, beside the "Bagle" store, is a place to buy "Sandwich & Drik," "Fou your happiness."

I am very happy that our Kim's Club has a Beard Papa cream puff outlet and that there is rotating sushi in every department store food court.

Here is some department store food court food in case you were wondering: bibimbop, pork cutlet, and tofu stew set menu for two.
The two department stores nearest us have playrooms on the kid's clothing floor so Jamie sampled them both. There are also mother-and-baby rooms where I can nurse, feed, change, and nap Iris in comfort and pastel privacy with soothing piped-in music. This is Iris in the baby seat in the bathroom stall, included to show that indeed, this city is very child-friendly. Iris caused quite a stir in the Ladies I must say. I know very little Korean, but I am quickly learning "oh so pretty" "So cute" "so fat" and "what a healthy boy." I tried to say she was a girl which caused the women I was speaking to to wiggle an imaginary penis in front of herself and nod. Clearly I must practice describing my children.