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So, it's my last week and I've been busy every single day and night.   There was World Cup on Tuesday and then World Cup again on Saturday.  I watched the last game with some of my fellow adoptees...it was a "European" group this time, with adoptees from France, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, and then three of us from the U.S.  The Korean team played great...and I think deserved to win the game.  Because of some bad calls...they lost the game, 2-1.re the

Before the game, I went to a cooking class at Korea House.  It's a place with traditional buildlings (hanoaks) and many weddings are held here as well as their traditional ceremonies.  The the cooking school, they taught us how to cook dalkgalbi (spicy chicken), cucumber salad, and seafood pancake (I kept the shrimp, but gave my squid to my friend).  It was all delicious and the chef even came by to taste my food and said it was good.  Yay.  I plan to make  a Korean dinner for friends and family once I return to the States!

Today, I met Yiyi and we went to visit the DVD man...someone she knows has good quality DVDs.  I got 6 for 10,000 won (less than $10).  Then we went to the Franciscan church for the Italian lunch.  They served us lasagne to start...with a tomato and meat sauce, and green noodles...the noodles looked and tasted homemade.  They were light and fluffy and tender.  Lunch was beef stew in a tomato sauce with carrots and potatoes, baked mashed potatoes (you could taste the parmesan that was baked on top), sauteed spinach and a green salad.  For dessert, it was a chocolate cake.  Wow...we were stuffed when we left.  We said our goodbyes and parted ways and then I went to visit the National Museum.

It was built on land that was donated back to Korea from the Army base.  It's a huge, beautiful, modern building, surrounded by botanical gardens, a reflection pool, water gardens and children's play areas.  It was such a beautiful place, full of national treasures.  I'll share a few of my pictures with you, but I have so many, there's no way you can see them all on my blog.

Back home, my feet are tired, and I'm kinda tired.  I started packing my bags...one is full already and one to go.  I think I will be able to get everything packed with no problem.  My house mom and dad invited me to dinner at a restaurant out tonight...they are so nice.  We had a nice dinner, and then went for a walk around the neighborhood.  What a lovely evening--the temps are good, it rained today and wasn't too hot.

Monday I have one more class...then I will travel with my homestay mom to the East Sea.  We will stop at Soraksan, spend the night, and then come back on Tuesday.  I leave on Wednesday.  What a wonderful trip it's been.  My heart is full of appreciation for everyone that helped make this trip happen.  My head is full of wonderful memories, sights, smells, and sounds of my birth country.  But I'm really looking forward to being home.