June 16

Yesterday was rainy. Maybe that was the reason. I'm not sure. But yesterday everybody's nerves were a bit on edge. Or maybe it was only me. I was short tempered. We are having a wonderful time and the good times outweigh the bad by leaps and bounds. But we are all living in close proximity to each other. Public transportation can be hot and is often extremely crowded. And this girl needs her alone time. I've had none which can make life rough for those around me.

Despite it all, we still had fun times yesterday. I booked us tickets to a show called The Painters. I found them mentioned on a travel blog and it sounded like they were street performers. Now they have graduated to a full blown show in a theater. They are difficult to describe. They are dancers/artists/comedians/ all with a K Pop boy band vibe. Twice during the show they scanned the audience with their camera to find someone to come on stage. And guess who was chosen? None other than our own Lucas Scherkenbach! He was up there for probably close to 10 minutes and became part of their little skit. No words were spoken, so the language barrier wasn't an issue. Everything was communicated through mime and drawings- Luke had to try to figure it out as it went along. He was a huge hit with the audience (is anyone surprised??) because he really hammed it up. They post pictures from each show on their Instagram page. For some reason the show we attended is missing. I sent them a message, so hopefully it will show up soon.

After that we took a bus to a Starbucks that I read about it my travel guide. I read that it was an old theater that had been abandoned and was revamped into a Starbucks. I was intrigued, so the whole family obliged me and came along. I read that it was in the middle of a produce market. And it was. But it was not like any produce market I had ever seen!! Everything looked dirty and run down. There was tons of fish, snails, eels, octopus, all over the place- some dead and lying out and some swimming around in buckets of water. It was bizarre. There were stalls upon stalls upon stalls. It felt never ending. There was lots of produce, but much of it was unrecognizable to me. Lots of roots and sprouts and things that looked nothing like the food we would see at an American farmers market.

We finally found the Starbucks. It was very cool inside and had an industrial hip type vibe. The menu was also unique. I had a tiramisu Frappuccino. Delicious. We took off our socks and shoes since we saw other customers do the same, kicked back and relaxed. The store was air conditioned so it was a glorious break from the dense humid air outside. We relaxed and chatted for awhile.

Jordan tried to convince us to get a taxi back to our apartment, but I wouldn't bite. It would have cost 20 dollars. We have Seoul passes which have allowed us unlimited trips on any public transportation. It only cost 15 dollars for a 7 day pass. I told Jordan he needed to develop a higher tolerance for discomfort. And we certainly experienced some! The second subway train back was packed to the gills. There was absolutely no room to move and the air was thick and humid. Although it was only about 8 in the evening, we all headed right to our beds to relax and cool off once we finally made it home!

You can see some of the art they drew in the background. The color was added later, but the sketches were all done right in front of us while they stopped every once in awhile and danced.

We were not allowed to take pictures during the show. This was the end of the performance and they held up a sign that said "photo time" so everyone took out their cameras.

They had a little photo shoot after the show.

Jordan thought this guy looked like Aiden, so he convinced Aiden to join him for a picture.

Entering the market- Aiden could hardly handle the smells!

Some of the unrecognizable produce.

Can you see the snails?

Any ideas what this might be?

Starbucks filled with stadium seating in honor of its former life as a theater.

Jordan taking pictures.

Luke and Aiden chilling

My drink

Relaxing while I tried to figure out the best way to get home

Luke won a free t-shirt because of his time on stage. He had to buy a bucket hat to match.